


Linked Through Time

by LizzeXX



Series: The Lunar Cycle [4]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Canon Divergence, Canon Rewrite, Drama, Embedded Images, F/M, Gallifrey, Links, Mental Institutions, Mind Link, Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net, Regeneration, Romance, Soulmates, Telekinesis, The Doctor and Evy are Links, The Doctor and Evy regenerated, The Doctor/Evy, The Last Great Time War, The Lunar Cycle, The Pandorica, Thuna - Freeform, Time Travel, Travel, Who is River Song?, doctor who - Freeform, linking, series 5 rewrite, space travel, time lady - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-18
Updated: 2020-09-12
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:42:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 24
Words: 171,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25813753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LizzeXX/pseuds/LizzeXX
Summary: With regeneration has come a stronger connection than ever for Evy and the Doctor. How will Evy deal with her Link and the lovely Amelia Pond? What of Series 5 will change with this new Evy? What surprise is coming for the Time Lords after Christmas?11/OCTime Lady
Relationships: Eleventh Doctor/Original Female Character(s), The Doctor (Doctor Who) & Original Female Character(s), The Doctor/Evy Daniels, Theta/Luna, Thuna - Relationship
Series: The Lunar Cycle [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1104399
Kudos: 27





	1. The Eleventh Hour (Part 1)

**Author's Note:**

> I have been plagiarized many times since I began writing fanfiction :( So please, do not copy my work onto other sites. And if you see my work, whether in full or tweaked or mish-mashed into other people's works, reach out to me on tumblr (LizzeXX) and let me know so I can look into it, post evidence on my tumblr's 'Plagiarizers' page, and ask for help reporting when it happens :(
> 
> I have seen it all by now. From people flat out copying everything and just pasting it as is, to changing the OC's name or from 3rd to 1st person, to alternating parts of their own work with putting in parts of mine, to starting off originally and then transitioning to my work, to using Proffy for 1 story then switching to Evy in their next, to people literally taking chunks from 5 different series and piecing it together into a story, so please, PLEASE, let me know if you see it happening. I am nervous enough posting this on AO3 or any other site, it is reassuring to me if people can keep an eye out and just let me know if you see anything happening :(

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Salutations! This is a revision of Series 5 to include my OC/Time Lady, Evelyn 'Evy' Daniels (AKA Luna). She is an important character to the Doctor in this series and, as this is the fourth story in the Lunar Cycle, I would recommend reading the first three stories (The Hidden Lady of Time, Alone No Longer, and Together At Last) in order to understand exactly how important she is and how she fits into the Doctor's life. This story will be updated daily with each episode being broken up into two chapters, except for 2-parter episodes which will have one chapter per episode.
> 
> Evy is, now, a slightly short woman with just about shoulder length curly-blonde hair (with a piece of hair that keeps falling just to the side of her right eye). She has hazel eyes and a button nose. Since she was caught in the crashing TARDIS, having just regenerated into her 11th self, her clothes/outfit of choice will be described in the next chapter :)
> 
> ~8~ is a scene break
> 
> 'italics' is telepathic communication
> 
> Disclaimer...I do not own Doctor Who...or I'd have the money to develop a real sonic screwdriver lol...

The Doctor and Evy grabbed onto the console for dear life, trying to pilot the TARDIS into a semi-safe landing on Earth…but it didn't look like it was going to work. The console exploded, sparks flew everywhere, half the room was on fire…and not to mention the Doctor had been thrown out the doors twice already. He'd managed to haul himself up and climb back in. He'd learned fairly quickly not to sonic the console as his beloved box nearly jerked him out again before he ran to help Evy try and land.

Somehow they'd made it into the Vortex, hoping it would stabilize the TARDIS, only to be thrown out of it. They finally managed to get more control, getting the box to half materialize, half crash into the ground just outside a small house…unfortunately they destroyed the shed when they landed on it.

As soon as the box touched down, they were sent flying backwards. Evy managed to grab onto the console, pulling herself up to sit against it as the entire TARDIS was now on its side…the Doctor hadn't been so lucky…

She glanced over to see he seemed to have fallen through the door above the gantry, through the corridors...and into the swimming pool, if the sound of splashing was anything to go by…but she could have sworn that was where the library was.

"I'm alright!" he shouted up to her.

The doors popped open above her, releasing the smoke and steam out into the sky. Evy reached over to a small panel and opened it gently…only for the entire door to fall off. She sighed, reaching in and pulling out a grappling hook. She swung it round and tossed it out the doors, tugging it as it caught on something. She threw the rest of the rope down to where the Doctor was and began climbing up.

~8~

A hand appeared on the ledge of the box, followed by another hand, and soon the head of a blonde woman was smiling down at a small red-haired girl, "Hello there," Evy greeted the young ginger.

"Um…hello?" the girl replied.

"One moment," she pulled herself up to sit on the ledge, her legs still in the box, her back to the girl, "There we go."

"Are you alright?" the girl asked, seeing the woman's disheveled hair and torn clothes, her face besmirched with smudges.

"Oh yes, I'm fine, thanks," Evy waved her off, "We sort of had a fall, he's in the library right now, it's quite the climb."

"We?"

"Oh, sorry. I'm Evy and…"

Just then a leather-bound book was stuck into the air with an arm attached. Another person pulled themselves out of the box, a man this time, with longish hair, soaking wet. He handed the book to Evy and pulled himself up so he was resting his chin on the edge of the box with his arms crossed beneath him, just dangling there.

"Oi!" Evy said, gingerly looking at the book, "You got it wet!" she lightly smacked him upside the head with it.

"Ow!" the man grumbled, "What was that for?"

"That was an original _completed_ manuscript for the Canterbury Tales!" she exclaimed, flipping through it to see a few stories were damaged with water, others completely destroyed, "I promised Geoff I'd bring it back when I finished reading it…do you know how much I had to beg him before he even let me touch it...he's going to have a heart attack when he sees this…do you have any idea how long he's worked on this?"

The man didn't answer, just rubbed the back of his head, "I see this one's still just as violent."

"Because you're still just as much of an idiot."

"I got all the other manuscripts out in time," he grumbled, reaching out to squeeze some water out of his hair.

"You're soaking wet!" the girl jumped back to avoid the water.

"I was in the swimming pool."

The girl frowned, "But she said you were in the library…"

"So is the swimming pool apparently," Evy replied.

The Doctor looked over as though just noticing the girl standing there, "Oh, hello! I'm the Doctor," he reached out an arm for her to shake.

"Amelia Pond," she replied, shaking it.

"Amelia Pond," he repeated, "Can I have an apple? All I can think about. Apples. I love apples. Maybe I'm having a craving!" he looked up at Evy, "That's new, never had cravings before."

"Are you police?" Amelia eyed them suspiciously.

"Why?" Evy asked as she reached out to help the Doctor sit on the ledge as well, "Were you waiting for the police?"

"Did you come about the crack in my wall?"

"What cra-ah-ah-argh-ha!" the Doctor exclaimed, falling off the side of the TARDIS and onto the ground.

Amelia looked concerned, "You alright mister?"

Evy hopped off the TARDIS to crouch at his side, trying to help him up, "Oh, he's fine…it's a perfectly norm…" she fell down with a huff on top of him, her own body spasming. She opened her mouth and a golden energy floated out of her, just as the same thing happened with the Doctor. They looked at each other for a moment before laughing at their position.

"Who are you?" Amelia asked, shaking her head.

The Doctor held out his hand, examining it as it glowed with golden light. He looked up at Evy, excited, "Don't know yet!"

Evy looked up at her, neither of them making a move to get up, "We're in the middle of settling."

The Doctor leaned his head back to look at the ginger girl, upside down, from his position on his back, "Does it scare you?"

"No…" she stared at them, "You just look a bit weird."

"No, no, no," Evy cut in, "He was asking if the crack in your wall scares you."

"Yes."

The Doctor suddenly leapt to his feet, somehow able to pull Evy up with him, making Amelia step back with a start, "Well then," he grinned, "No time to lose! I'm the Doctor and this is…"

"Evy," Amelia replied, "I know."

The Doctor frowned, "How?"

Amelia looked at him strangely, "You just told me a minute ago."

"Did I?" he asked, looking at Evy who nodded, he shrugged, "Oh well, do everything we tell you, don't ask stupid questions, and don't wander off," he turned around and stalked off…running right into a tree.

Evy winced, as she felt a sting in her forehead, and he fell backwards, surprised. She walked over to him, reaching out to help him up, her hand on his forehead as she examined him.

"You alright?" Amelia asked, her eyebrows raised.

"Still in the early stages of regeneration," Evy answered, "Coordination will be a bit off," she smiled at the Doctor, giving him a peck, "But you should be fine."

"Actually..." he smiled and pulled her in again, stealing another kiss off her, "All better now."

~8~

Eventually they made it into Amelia's house, Evy almost walking into the side of the doorframe on the way, but the Doctor pulled her to the side in time.

They stood there, looking around as Amelia walked up to them, holding the Doctor's apple, her eyes on him, suspicion in them, "If you're a Doctor, why does your box say 'police?'"

He reached out and took the apple from her, sniffing it cautiously before taking a bite out of it. He chewed it only twice before spitting it out, his eyes still on Amelia who now looked put off as the apple piece flew past her. He coughed, holding up the apple, "That's disgusting. What is that?"

Evy reached out and took the apple, sniffing it like the Doctor had.

"An apple," Amelia replied.

"Apple's rubbish," he said as Evy took a bite, "I hate apples."

"You said you loved them."

"I think _I_ do," Evy smiled, taking another bite, the apple tasted _very_ good.

"No, no, no, I'll have yogurt!" he said suddenly, "Yogurt's my favorite. Gimme yogurt."

Evy just laughed as the girl rolled her eyes and went to get the Doctor yogurt. She laughed harder when he took it from the girl, ripped the lid off, and practically drank the little cup only to spit it out and across the room. Amelia looked quite disgusted as she stared at him, standing there, with yogurt on his face.

Evy sighed and took a napkin from the table and began wiping his mouth.

"I hate yogurt, it's just stuff!" he grumbled through the napkin Evy was cleaning him with. He reached out and took her hand, pulling it and the napkin away to give her a peck quickly, "With bits in."

"You said it was your favorite!" Amelia defended.

"New mouth, new rules," Evy replied, going to toss the napkin in a bin only for her arm to spasm…the yogurt soaked napkin landed on Amelia's head, "Sorry…" Evy held up her hand to hide her grin as Amelia tried to look at the napkin on top of her, going a bit cross-eyed, only to shake her head and let it fall to the ground.

"It's like eating after cleaning your teeth," the Doctor agreed as Amelia threw away the napkin, "Everything tastes wrooooo…" he jerked again, flinging his hand up, slapping his forehead before straightening, trying to act as though it never happened, despite the two women staring at him. He glanced at them before slowly moving to sit down at the table as though that would help erase the situation.

"What is it?" Amelia looked between the two of them, "What's wrong with you two?"

"Wrong with us?" the Doctor asked, offended, "What's wrong with _you_? Why can't you give me any decent food? You're Scottish, fry something."

Immediately he felt a pain in the back of his head as Evy smacked him.

"I see you're still just as rude," Evy remarked.

"Probably," he agreed, looking up at her, "But…" he reached out and tugged her arm, gently pulling her into his lap. He smiled at her, just looking at her for a moment or two, brushing that strand of her hair that fell by her eye behind her ear.

Evy smiled gently at him, "What?"

He just hummed and leaned forward, kissing her softly. He pulled back a minute later, a wide smile on his face as he looked at her once more, the softest expression on his face, "This one is more affectionate I think."

Evy let out a little laugh, giving him another peck, "He just might be."

Amelia just stood there, watching their interaction for only a moment before she looked away, feeling as though she were intruding on an intimate, private moment between the two. She walked over to the refrigerator, pulling out some bacon and getting to work frying it.

While the stove was heating up, she ran to a cupboard in the hall to get a towel for the Doctor, who smiled gratefully at her before rubbing his hair with it, managing not to hit Evy as she remained on his lap.

"Oh bacon!" he shouted when he smelled it cooking. Moments later Amelia placed a plate in front of him. He looked down at it, grinning, before holding a piece up to Evy to try, she just shook her head politely, already knowing from the smell that she wouldn't enjoy it, besides she still had her apple to finish. He shrugged and took a mouthful, chewing as Amelia giggled…until he made a disgusted face and spat the chewed bits into his hand, "Bacon? _That's_ bacon?" he leaned forward, very serious, "Are you trying to poison me?"

"She hasn't tried to feed you pears yet has she?" Evy reasoned, taking another napkin and wiping off his hand.

The Doctor nodded in thought.

Amelia sighed, before getting off her chair and moving to make something else…she decided to try beans this time.

"Ah," the Doctor grinned at Evy, "You see? Beans," Amelia slid the plate over to the Doctor who spooned a large helping into his mouth…Evy jumped off the seat moments before he sprang up and ran to the sink to spit them out, "Beans are evil. Bad, _bad_ beans."

Evy patted him on the back before looking over her shoulder at Amelia. She rolled her eyes and nodded back towards the Doctor, earning a small smile from the girl.

"What about something simple?" Amelia asked, glancing at the Doctor, "Bread and butter?"

"That sounds nice actually…" he agreed. So Amelia got to work, smearing some butter on a slice of bread and sliding it to the Doctor just as he sat back down, Evy beside him with her hand on his shoulder, "Bread and butter. Now you're talking..."

The next thing they knew the Doctor had thrown the plate of bread and butter out the backdoor like a frisbee…possibly hitting a cat.

"And stay out!" he shouted, brushing his hands and returning to the kitchen.

He ended up pacing around the length of the small eating area as Evy sat on a counter, watching him. Amelia had gone through the contents of her pantry and gone back to the refrigerator.

"We've got some carrots," Amelia commented.

"Carrots?" he stopped pacing and turned to face her, "Are you insane?"

Evy just shook her head and hopped off the counter, walking over to Amelia's side, "I know what you need," she said before opening the freezer and looking in, "Fish fingers…" she pulled a box out and then knelt to look into the refrigerator, "…and custard."

She turned around to see both Amelia and the Doctor staring at her with disgusted looks.

~8~

The Doctor had eaten almost all the fish fingers, dipping them in the custard, while Evy finished off her apple and Amelia ate some ice cream, watching them. Amelia grimaced as the Doctor lifted the entire bowl of custard and drank it as though it were milk. But both girls giggled when he lowered it to reveal a custard mustache.

"Quite fetching," Evy commented, reaching over with yet another napkin to wipe his mouth, "This one's a bit of a mess though, isn't he?"

"I'd be a mess without you," he smiled at her, leaning in to give her a quick kiss of thanks when she pulled the napkin away, "You are quite the caretaker eh?" he nodded at the custard and fish fingers, "How'd you know?"

She grinned, "I've been in your head quite a long time Doctor…I _know_ you."

His smile widened as he brushed that darned lock of hair from her face.

"You're both really strange," Amelia commented, eyeing them, "But funny."

"Are we?" the Doctor looked over at the young ginger, "Good. Strange is good, funny's great…what's your name?"

Amelia gave him another odd look, "…Amelia Pond…I told you this already."

"Did you?"

"What's wrong with him?" Amelia glanced at Evy. Of the two of them, it was more noticeable with the Doctor that there was something going on. Evy would do little things, like stumble or trip or jerk, but the Doctor was just everywhere.

"Bit of a memory loss," Evy explained, "He'll be forgetting a few things on and off for a few hours…nothing serious."

"That's a brilliant name," the Doctor commented, "Amelia Pond."

"Sounds like a fairytale princess," Evy grinned, making the girl blush.

"Are we in Scotland, Amelia?"

Amelia sighed, "No. Had to move to England. It's rubbish."

"So what about your mum and dad then? Are they upstairs? Thought we'd've woken them by now."

"Don't have a mum and dad. Just an aunt."

"I don't even have an aunt."

"I had fifteen," Evy groaned. Her family on Galifrey had been one of the larger ones. Her father had five sisters and three brothers while her mother had four brothers and three sisters…each of them married giving her fifteen aunts in total.

"Ouch," Amelia grimaced before looking at the Doctor, "You're lucky."

"I know," the Doctor said, though he was looking at Evy when he said it, completely not in the context the little girl was speaking in.

Evy blushed at the Doctor's stare before turning to Amelia, "Where's your aunt Amelia?"

"She's out," Amelia shrugged.

"And she left you all alone?" the Doctor gaped at her.

"I'm not scared!"

"Course you're not! You're not scared of anything. Box falls out of the sky, man falls out of box, man eats fish custard. And look at you! Just sitting there. So you know what I think?"

"What?" she frowned.

"That crack in your wall must be more scary than us then," Evy answered.

~8~

As soon as the crack was in sight, both the Doctor and Evy could tell there was something wrong. They rushed into Amelia's room, towards it, and immediately began investigating, Evy scanning it with her screwdriver while the Doctor just poked it and felt it with his fingers.

"You've had some cowboys in here," he commented, glancing back at Amelia who was leaning on her doorway, "Not actual cowboys."

"But that _can_ happen," Evy added.

"I used to hate apples," Amelia commented, looking down at an apple in her hand, "Then my mum put faces on them."

They turned to look at her as she walked over and handed the apple to the Doctor, a smiley face carved into it.

Evy smiled softly, "Your mum sounds fantastic."

The Doctor nodded, slipping it into his pocket, "I'll keep it for later."

They turned back to the wall, both mumbling to themselves as they looked at it.

"The wall's solid…" Evy mumbled, "And the crack doesn't go all the way through it."

The Doctor nodded, "So here's a thing, where's the draft coming from?" he held up his sonic screwdriver, running it along the wall for a moment, "Wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey…"

"Please don't make me hit you," Evy moaned, actually grabbing her arm which had jerked as though it desperately wanted to smack him.

"Do you know what the crack is?" he ignored her plea and turned to face Amelia.

"What?" the girl asked.

"…it's a crack," he answered before pressing his face up against it.

Evy just rubbed her head in exasperation, it seemed this version of him was much more enthusiastic and up close about figuring things out.

"But I'll tell you something funny," he continued, "If you knock this wall down, the crack would stay put," he turned to face Evy, "'Cos the crack isn't in the wall."

"Where is it then?" Amelia asked.

Evy let out a breath, that was _not_ good, "Everywhere," she explained, "In everything. A crack like this is the result of a split in the skin of the world. It's two parts of space and time that were never meant to touch...and now they're being pressed together on the wall of your bedroom. Sometimes…"

"Can you hear…" the Doctor interrupted lightly, moving to press his ear against the wall.

"A voice?" Amelia guessed, "Yes."

The Doctor darted over to Amelia's bedside table and picked up a glass of water, his arm spasming and flinging all the water out. He looked down, a bit surprised that there was no water in it and wondering why Amelia had an empty cup beside her bed, before rushing back to the wall and pressing it against it, his ear on the other end, "Evy listen," he whispered, closing his eyes.

Amelia watched, confused, as Evy closed her eyes as well, not sure what the woman was doing.

Evy frowned as she heard a whisper in her mind, flowing from the Doctor's, hearing what he was hearing, 'Prisoner Zero has escaped.'

"Prisoner Zero?" Evy whispered, her eyes opening.

"Prisoner Zero has escaped," Amelia stated, "That's what I heard. What does it mean?"

The Doctor didn't answer, still listening to the voice on the other side of the wall, 'Prisoner Zero has escaped.'

"It means there's a prison on the other side of the crack," Evy answered as the Doctor stepped back, "It seems they've lost a prisoner, which means..."

"What?" Amelia frowned.

"You need a better wall," the Doctor said. He leaned down, stepping on one side of Amelia's desk as Evy got the other, both lifting it and moving it away so they had a clear space before the wall.

"The only way to close the breach…" the Doctor began, just thinking out loud.

"…is to open it all the way," Evy finished, thinking the same thing.

"Forces will invert. And it will snap itself shut or…"

"What?" Amelia repeated herself, sensing the hesitancy in the man's voice.

The Doctor paused a moment, thinking about what he wanted to say, "You know when grownups tell you everything's gonna be fine, and you think they're probably lying to make you feel better?"

Amelia sighed, "Yes…"

"Everything's gonna be fine," he told her with a little smile. He looked over at Evy a moment before she nodded, pulling out her sonic screwdriver again. He took Amelia's hand and turned back to the wall, keeping the child safely behind him as Evy flicked on the sonic. The crack glowed with a brilliant white light before prying itself open. Through the crack they could see a faint outline of bars.

"Prisoner Zero has escaped," a voice boomed. The Doctor stared, taking a step forward along with Evy, "Prisoner Zero has escaped."

"Hello?" Evy asked.

"Helloooo!" the Doctor called through.

Suddenly a large eyeball filled the space. The Doctor took a step or two back, startled as Evy just stood there, staring at the eye that was watching them. A small ball of light flew out of the wall and hit the Doctor's pocket, forcing him backwards against the bed. Evy flicked the sonic off and the crack slammed shut.

"There, see!" the Doctor got up, grinning madly at Evy, "Told you it would close! Good as new."

"Yeah, yeah," Evy rolled her eyes, grinning as well, happy it had worked after all.

"What's that thing?" Amelia stared, wide eyed, at the wall, "Was that Prisoner Zero?"

"No," Evy shook her head, "That was probably just the guard."

"Whatever it was, it sent me a message," the Doctor said, holding up the psychic paper for her to see, Evy frowned and moved to sit next to him on the bed.

"What's that?" Amelia stared at it.

"Psychic paper," Evy answered.

"Takes a lovely little message," the Doctor added, before reading it, "'Prisoner Zero has escaped.'"

"But we already know that so why repea..." Evy began before she realized something, "Oh no..." she looked at the Doctor, silently telling him her suspicions so as not to alarm Amelia.

"'Oh no' what?" Amelia asked.

The Doctor sighed, "...oh no as in Prisoner Zero must have escaped _through_ here."

He and Evy looked around the room, "How could he have though?" Evy argued, "We'd have noticed."

The Doctor suddenly ran out of the bedroom, her words sparking a thought, Evy and Amelia following until he stopped abruptly on the landing, looking around at the doors on that floor.

"It's difficult," he mumbled, "Brand new me, nothing works yet, but there's something I'm missing..." he very slowly turned his head to face a door he'd only glanced at as he stopped, "In the corner...of my eye..."

Evy, seeing what he was doing, trying to bypass a Perception Filter, copied him. They had just managed to sense there was something not right about the door at the end of the hall, when suddenly the cloister bell of the TARDIS began to sound. The Doctor jumped, grabbing Evy's hand and racing down the stairs.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!" he called as they ran to the back garden, Amelia chasing after them.

"We need to get back in!" Evy told him, "The engines are phasing! She'll burn!"

"But," Amelia called, "It's just a box, how can a box have engines?"

The Doctor ran around the TARDIS, trying to figure out a way to get it upright but, finding none, just jumped up on its ledge, holding out a hand to help Evy up as well, "It's not a box!" he defended, "It's a time machine."

"What?" Amelia asked, clearly not believing him, "A real one? You've got a _real_ time machine?"

"We won't anymore if we can't stabilize her!" Evy called, staring down into the TARDIS, she looked up at the Doctor, "A five minute hop into the future should set her right!"

"...can I come?"

"Not safe in here, not yet," the Doctor replied, "Five minutes. Give us five minutes! We'll be right back."

"...people always say that."

The Doctor stopped suddenly before turning to jump off the TARDIS to crouch down before her, "Am I people?" he asked her, staring intently into her eyes, "Do I even _look_ like people? Trust me. I'm the Doctor."

Amelia smiled, now reassured.

He turned back to see Evy smiling softly down at him, he smiled up at her, "What?"

"Nothing, just…" she shook her head, "That right there…" she nodded at the small interaction that had just transpired, "One of the _many_ reasons why I love you."

His grin exploded at her words before he practically leapt onto the ledge. He took Evy's hand in his before they jumped in, the Doctor's cry of "Geronimo!" echoing back up to Amelia followed by a splashing noise.

The TARDIS doors swung closed and they were off.

~8~

It had been a close call, but they'd gotten to the TARDIS just in time. The Doctor had put the instructions in for a five minute jump and they were off. Once the TARDIS rematerialized outside Amelia's house, the Doctor was out the door pulling Evy with him, the TARDIS would still need a few hours to cool off and stabilize.

The Doctor barely paused to look around before taking off towards the house, "Amelia!" he had to use the sonic a few times to get in.

Evy hesitated, not following as she looked around. Something was very wrong.

Firstly, it was daylight, so five minutes definitely hadn't passed.

"Amelia!" she could hear the Doctor call from inside the house, "I worked out what it was! I know what I was missing! You've gotta get out of there!"

Then she noticed, the flowers were blooming, and she was pretty sure it had been too cool for flowers before, it probably wasn't even the same season!

She could sense the Doctor in her mind, he had found the door, "Amelia! Amelia! Are you alright? Are you there?"

And then she noticed one more thing out of place…the shed, the one that the TARDIS had destroyed that night, it was rebuilt.

~8~

The Doctor tried to sonic the door, shouting, "Prisoner Zero's here. Prisoner Zero is here!"

~8~

Evy walked cautiously towards the shed, reaching out to lay a hand against the slightly dirty wall…it was old, far older than if it had recently been rebuilt…it felt like…

~8~

"Prisoner Zero is here! Prisoner Zero's here, do you understand me?"

~8~

It felt like 12 years!

"Doctor!" she turned, shouting at the house.

~8~

"Prisoner Zero is…" the Doctor spun around at the sound of a floorboard creaking, only to be smacked in the head with a cricket bat.

~8~

Evy felt herself spinning as though something had slammed into her and fell to the ground. She moaned, her head was pounding! She rolled onto her back only to see that her vision had gone white with little stars and everything was echoing and ringing…but, faintly, she could hear the sound of someone on a radio calling for help…

"…male, mid-twenties, breaking and entering," Evy frowned…the voice was echoing, "Send me some backup, I've got him restrained. Oi!" and then it shouted, making her wince, ouch, "You, sit still."

"Cricket bat," the Doctor cleared his throat and she knew she was hearing him in her mind, "I'm getting...cricket…bat."

And then she realized…the Doctor had just been bludgeoned with a cricket bat.

Well, that explained her massive headache.

She was going to kill him.

"You were breaking and entering," the voice, a woman, was saying again.

Evy groaned, sitting up, but grabbed her head in a vain attempt to keep the Earth from spinning. If she was this disoriented, the Doctor must be really bad…served him right.

She could feel him getting exasperated as well and trying to stand up, only to be forced back down…she almost laughed when she realized he'd been handcuffed to a radiator.

Actually, she did laugh, _the Doctor_ being taken down by _a human_ with a _cricket bat_ and then held at bay by a pair of simple _handcuffs_? Good, her sense of humor was back. The ringing in her ears was even beginning to dissipate.

"Oh that's much better," the Doctor grumbled, "Brand new me. Whack on the head, _just_ what I needed."

"Do you want to shut up now?" the woman asked, "I've got backup on the way."

Evy winced, pulling herself up, if backup was coming then she'd have to get the Doctor out of there.

"Hang on, no, wait," the Doctor began, "You're a policewoman."

"And you're breaking and entering. You see how this works?"

"No, what are you doing here? Where's Amelia?"

And then he seemed to realize, Evy wasn't there either, ' _Evy?_ ' his voice filtered across her mind.

' _Outside,_ ' she answered.

' _A little help?_ '

' _On my way.'_

"...Amelia Pond?" the woman asked, drawing the Doctor's attention back to her.

Evy walked over to the door, the last of her headache disappearing, and tried the knob…but it was locked. She frowned, she could have _sworn_ the Doctor soniced it open. And if he did…she needed to get in the house, something knew he was there, and, knowing the Doctor, it was bound to lead to trouble.

"Yeah," the Doctor said, "Amelia. Little Scottish girl. Where is she? I promised her five minutes, but the engines were phasing, I suppose we must have gone a bit far. Has something happened to her?"

Evy froze, hoping that nothing had happened to the little girl. Normally when the Doctor was having conversations with others she didn't usually eavesdrop, but so far he was helpless and something might have happened to Amelia, so she continued.

"Amelia Pond hasn't lived here in a long time," the woman responded, warily.

"How long?"

"...six months."

The Doctor seemed to be in shock, Evy rolled her eyes, wait till he found out it had really been 12 years…but then she realized…why would the woman say six months then?

"No," the Doctor gasped, "No! No. No. I can't be six months late, I said five minutes. I promised," the woman turned away to speak on the radio, but the Doctor would have none of that, "What happened to her? What happened to Amelia Pond?"

"Sarge, it's me again, hurry it up. This guy knows something about Amelia Pond."

That was it. She had to get in there. She reached into her pocket for her sonic screwdriver, only to come up empty handed. Her eyes widened…she'd had her screwdriver with her when they'd left Amelia…and she'd…

She mentally smacked herself, she'd used it on the console to help override a piece of circuitry that had been fried…she must have left it in the TARDIS. She glanced back at the box, still steaming and glowing…no going back now.

"I need to speak to whoever lives in this house right now," the Doctor demanded.

"I live here," the woman replied.

"But you're the police!"

"Yes, and this is where I live! You got a problem with that?"

"How many rooms?"

' _Doctor!_ ' Evy half shouted in his mind, but he ignored her.

What was he trying to do? Humans and their curiosity, they're worse than any cat on any planet…half the time they could be worse than the Doctor and that was saying something.

"...I'm sorry, what?"

"On this floor," the Doctor continued, "How many rooms on this floor? Count them for me now."

"Why?"

"Because it will change your life."

"...five," she answered, pointing them out, "One, two, three, four, five."

"Six," he corrected.

' _Don't,_ ' Evy warned.

"Six?" the woman laughed.

"Look," he nodded towards the 'hidden' door.

' _Don't!_ ' she warned again.

"Exactly where you don't wanna look," the Doctor said.

She really had to have a serious talk with him about listening to her.

"Where you never wanna look. The corner of your eye. Look behind you."

She could see the woman through the Doctor's eyes, turning slowly, actually _seeing_ the door. Evy quickly tried the knob again, but it didn't work. She turned to her side and braced herself before elbowing the window…only to hurt her elbow and nothing more. There was some sort of field around the house, keeping it from being broken into.

Just _wonderful_.

"That's...that is not possible," the woman stuttered, "How is that possible?"

"There's a Perception Filter all round the door," the Doctor replied, his mind drifting off for just a moment to when someone he knew had worn a Perception Filter around him, "Sensed it last time I was here," and he had, that little odd niggling in the back of his mind that he'd associated with Evy when she'd had that Filter on, "Should've seen it."

"But that's a whole room. That's a whole room I've never even _noticed_."

"The Filter stops you noticing," the Doctor replied almost bitterly. He'd wasted _so_ much time with Evy because of that _stupid_ Filter, "Something came here, a while ago, to hide, and it's still hiding, and you need to uncuff me now!"

"Don't have the key, I lost it," she mumbled distractedly as she began moving towards the door.

"How can you have lost it?!" the Doctor shouted before realizing what she was doing, "...stay away from that door!" she ignored him, "Do not touch that door!" she still ignored him, "Listen to me, do not open that…" she opened the door and stepped inside, "Why does no one _ever_ listen to me? Do I just have a face that nobody listens to?" he paused in thought, "...again."

' _I happen to find your new face very charming,_ ' Evy said in his mind, rubbing her bruised elbow, ' _Just like your old face was._ '

' _Then why doesn't anyone listen to the charming face?_ ' he retorted.

' _Maybe because you don't listen to anyone else's face,_ ' she suggested, nudging him in his mind to make a point, ' _I TOLD you not to say anything but did you listen to me? No…_ '

' _Ok, ok, ok. I get it._ '

' _Good,_ ' she smirked.

' _Can you come upstairs? I could use a bit of help._ '

' _Working on it,_ ' she mumbled, getting back to looking at the lock, silently cursing the Doctor for getting her dependent on the sonic as well. She reached up and rubbed the side of her head, a phantom pain from the bat, before she began tangling her hand in her hair and managed to pull the pin that had once helped hide her part out of it.

"Yes!" she shouted, kneeling down and beginning to pick the lock, the human way.

~8~

Sensing Evy would be there soon the Doctor began to look around for a way to get out…the last thing he needed was for her to actually _see_ him handcuffed to the radiator. He was sure she'd never let him live it down just knowing it in his mind, "My screwdriver!" he called to the woman, "Where is it? Silver thing, blue at the end, where did it go?"

"There's nothing here," the woman commented from inside the room.

"Whatever's in there stopped you seeing the whole room. What makes you think you could see _it_? Now please, just get out!"

"Silver, blue at the end?"

"My screwdriver, yeah," he nodded, even though she couldn't see him.

"It's here."

He breathed a sigh of relief, "Must've rolled under the door."

"Yeah…" she said, tense, "Must've...and then it must've...jumped up on the table."

~8~

Evy _just_ managed to get the lock undone when a shot of fear raced through her for the woman in the room. Something was wrong.

"Get out of there!" she could actually hear the Doctor shouting upstairs, "Get out of there! Get out! Get out of there!"

She raced up the stairs and saw the door to the room open and the Doctor chained to the radiator. Knowing the best chance of helping the woman would be to get the Doctor out, two Time Lords vs. one alien being much better odds, she raced to the Doctor's side, kneeling down and began to try and pick the handcuffs with her pin.

"Just sonic it!" he hissed, staring at the door.

"It's in the TARDIS," she replied, struggling.

"What is it?" he called to the woman as Evy continued to work on the cuffs, "What are you doing?"

"There's nothing here, but..." the woman trailed.

"Corner of your eye…" Evy mumbled to herself.

"What is it?"

They could both tell she was trying to look for it.

"Don't try to see it, if it knows you've seen it, it will kill you!" the Doctor warned, "Don't look at it! Do _not_ look."

It was silent for a moment or two before the woman in the room screamed.

"Get out!" the Doctor shouted.

The woman ran out of the room, stopping short when she saw Evy kneeling next to the Doctor, "Two of you?"

Evy reached out and snatched the sonic out of the woman's hands. Instead of using it on the cuffs, she aimed it at the door, locking it, getting them more time, before turning to the Doctor.

"Oh, what's the bad alien done to you?" the Doctor looked, alarmed, at the state of his screwdriver when Evy gave it back to him.

"Will that door hold it?" the woman asked.

"Oh, of course," Evy rolled her eyes, still a bit put off from the woman smacking her Link with a cricket bat, "Because all inter-dimensional multi-forms from outer space are _terrified_ of _wood_."

She gave them a scathing look, seeming about to retort when the door behind them began flashing yellow from within, "What's that? What's it doing?"

"I don't know," the Doctor glanced up from trying to clean the screwdriver, "Getting dressed? Run. Just go, your backup's coming, we'll be fine."

"There is no backup."

"...I heard you on the radio calling for backup," Evy turned to her.

"You weren't even here."

"I heard it through him," she nodded back at the Doctor.

The woman shook her head, not even about to question how she'd heard anything through someone else, "I was pretending, it's a pretend radio."

"But you're a policewoman!" the Doctor shouted.

"I'm a kissogram!" the woman pulled off her hat, allowing her ginger hair to fall out around her. Just then the door crashed down at the end of the hall, a man and his very large dog stepped out, staring at them, "...but it's just..."

"No it isn't," the Doctor cut in, staring at the man.

"The faces," Evy added, "Look at them."

The dog started to growl and bark but the dog's face wasn't moving, the man's was.

"What?" the woman gasped, "I'm sorry, but…what?"

"It's _one_ creature disguised as _two_ ," Evy informed her.

"Clever, old, multi-form," the Doctor grinned, "A bit of a rushed job, though, got the voices a bit muddled, did you?" the creature just stared at him, "Mind you, where did you get the pattern from? You'd need a psychic link, life feed, how'd you fix that?"

The man growled again, taking a step towards them, opening his mouth to reveal large, pointy teeth.

"Stay away!" the Doctor shouted, pulling Evy back, "Apparently we're safe, wanna know why?" he nodded at the woman, "She sent for backup."

"I didn't send for backup!" the woman repeated.

Evy face palmed, humans… _so slow_ on the uptake.

"...I know, that was a clever lie to save our lives," the Doctor grumbled, "Ok, yeah, no backup!"

The man closed his mouth and stopped growling.

"Which is why we're safe," Evy nodded, taking the Doctor's hand, "We're no threat to you on our own. Had we called for backup _then_ we would be and..."

"Attention Prisoner Zero," a voice boomed from outside, "The human residence is surrounded. Attention Prisoner Zero. The human residence is surrounded."

"What's that?" the woman whispered.

"Well," Evy began, " _That_ would be backup."

"Ok, one more time," the Doctor said, "We _do_ have backup, and that's definitely why we're _safe_."

"Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence, or the human residence will be incinerated."

"...safe apart from incineration," Evy smirked at the Doctor, she could already see a challenge coming. She felt a small thrill go through her, it seemed this version of her liked challenges, creating challenges, facing them...

He grinned as well, especially when the multi-form entered another room.

"Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence, or the human residence will be incinerated."

The Doctor bashed the sonic against the floor a few more times and it finally started working. He flashed the handcuffs and leapt to his feet, "Run!" he shouted, rushing down the stairs, Evy's hands in his, the woman following after them, "Run!"

They slammed the door shut behind them as the Doctor soniced it locked. They ran towards the TARDIS, the Doctor frantically trying to unlock it, "It won't work," Evy called. The Doctor spun to face her, "She's still rebuilding, won't let us in."

The Doctor ran a hand through his hair before spinning to face the woman, "A kissogram?"

"Yes, a kissogram!" the woman defended, "What's going on?"

"Why'd you pretend to be a policewoman?"

"You broke into my house! It was this or a French maid! What's going on, tell me! Tell me!"

"An alien convict is hiding in your spare room, disguised as a man and a dog, and some other aliens are about to incinerate your house. Any questions?"

"Yes!"

"Me too," Evy stepped up, "A better one…why did you say six months?"

"What?" the Doctor and the woman asked at once.

"It hasn't been six months Doctor. It's been _twelve years_."

"What?" he repeated.

"The shed," she nodded to the rebuilt one, "It's too old to be new."

"What?" he ran over to it. He reached out, wiping a finger along it before rubbing it and moved to lick the dirt off when Evy reached out and grabbed him.

"It's twelve years," she stated, leaving no room for argument. He pouted, but she just gave him a quick peck, and he wiped the dirt on his pants, "We're not six months late, we're twelve years late."

"Uh…he's coming," the woman said when they turned to look at her.

"You said six months!" the Doctor accused her, "Why did you say six months?"

"We've gotta go," she fidgeted.

"This matters. This is important! Why did you say six months?"

"Well why did you say five minutes?" she shouted.

The duo looked at her in astonishment… _this_ was Amelia Pond.

"What?" he whispered.

"Come on," she told them, looking away.

"What?"

"Come on!" she reached out and grabbed his arm, pulling him away.

"What?!"

Evy laughed to herself as she ran along with them, she loved it when the Doctor did his triple 'whats.' They raced passed the front door just as the man and his dog opened it.

"Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence, or the human residence will be incinerated..."

~8~

Amelia led them down a number of roads to a little village square, but that was as far as the Doctor let her get.

"You're Amelia," he stated, stopping to look at her.

She ignored him and continued walking, "You're late."

Evy sighed, taking the Doctor's hand and pulling him to catch up to the angry ginger.

"Amelia Pond!" he shouted, "You're the little girl!"

"I think we established that Doctor," Evy remarked.

"I'm Amelia," she agreed, "And you're late!"

"What happened?" the Doctor asked.

"Twelve years."

"You hit me with a cricket bat!"

"Twelve years!"

"A cricket bat!"

"Twelve years. And four psychiatrists."

"Four?" Evy asked this time, trying to end their roundabout conversation.

"...I kept biting them."

"Why?" the Doctor looked quite amused by that.

Amelia glanced back at the two of them, her expression softening, "They said you weren't real."

"Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence, or the human residence will be incinerated," the voice blared out of the speakers of an ice cream van.

"No, no, no, come on," Amelia turned to face them, "What? We're being staked out...by an ice cream van?"

Evy and the Doctor just looked at each other before rushing past her and up to the van.

"What's that?" the Doctor asked, "Why are you playing that?"

"It's supposed to be Clair de Lune," the driver said.

The Doctor picked up the radio and held it to his ear, "Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence, or the human residence will be incinerated. Repeat. Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence, or the human residence will be incinerated."

"Doctor," Evy called as he poked the radio. He looked up and walked around to the side of the van to see her looking around at everything with speakers, all playing the same message.

"Doctor, what's happening?" Amelia asked.

Evy and the Doctor looked around for a few more seconds before taking off down the road, Amelia following after them.

They ran into a lovely house with an old woman living in it. The Doctor hurried through the unlocked door, skidding on the carpet and heading into the living room where the old woman was trying to press her remote to get rid of the giant eyeball on her TV screen.

"Hello!" the Doctor called as Evy ran over to the TV, poking around behind it, "Sorry to burst in, we're doing a special on television faults in this area…" Amelia burst into the room, "...also, crimes. Let's have a look."

He walked over to take the remote from her, seeing if he could help Evy from his end as the woman looked up, smiling.

"I was just about to phone…" the woman said, "It's on every channel!" she turned and noticed Amelia standing there, "Oh, hello Amy dear! Are you a policewoman now?"

"Well…sometimes..." she said, embarrassed.

"I thought you were a nurse."

The Doctor and Evy stopped what they were doing to look up at Amelia curiously.

"I can. Be a nurse."

"Or, actually a nun?"

"I dabble!" she tried to laugh it off.

"Amy, who're your friends?" the old woman let it go.

"Who's Amy?" the Doctor frowned, "You're _Amelia_."

"Yeah, now I'm Amy!" Amy replied.

"Amelia Pond," Evy called as she removed the back of the TV, "Is a beautiful name."

"...bit fairytale," Amy flushed as the duo just stared at her.

"I know you two, don't I?" the old woman asked, staring at them, "I mean, I've seen you somewhere before!"

"Not me," the Doctor said, stepping before her, "Brand new face," he stretched out his mouth as wide as he could, trying, to Evy's amusement, to show the woman his face, "First time on…" and then he turned back to Amy, "And what sort of job's a kissogram?"

"I go to parties, and...I kiss people," she cleared her throat, "With outfits. It's a laugh!"

"You were a little girl five minutes ago!" he chastised, feeling protective of the little girl they'd seen.

"You're worse than my aunt!"

"He's the Doctor," Evy said, holding a bunch of wires in her hand, "He's worse than everybody's aunt."

"Glad to know what you think of me Eves," he grinned at her. She just smirked and blew him a kiss, which he caught and put in his pocket before turning back to the old woman, "And, that is _not_ how I'm introducing myself," he turned around and began to sonic a radio, switching to different channels, but it was the same message, in different languages, "Ok. So it's everywhere. In every language."

"They're broadcasting to the whole world then?" Evy frowned, just a bit nervous, that was _never_ a good thing.

The Doctor seemed to agree as he ran to the window and opened it, looking up at the sky.

"What's up there?" Amy asked, "What are you looking at?"

The Doctor ignored her as he pulled himself back and looked solemnly at Evy before nodding.

She sighed, "Alright...a planet this size, with two poles, a basic molten core...that would take at least a forty percent fission blast," the Doctor nodded, thinking the same thing, "But they need to power up first which, if it's a typical medium sized star ship, would give us twenty minutes at most. What do you think, twenty minutes?" she looked up to see another man had entered the room and was looking between her and the Doctor.

"Yeah...twenty minutes," the Doctor agreed, distracted as he was watching the man closely…his gaze always seemed to stay on Evy longer than the Doctor felt was necessary, "We've got twenty minutes."

"Twenty minutes to what?" Amy asked.

"Are you the Doctor?" the man asked, before glancing at Evy, "And…Evy?"

"They are, aren't they?" the old woman cried, "He's the Doctor! The Raggedy Doctor! And she's Evy! All those cartoons you did when you were little? The Raggedy Doctor! It's them!"

Amy cleared her throat, "Shut up."

"…cartoons?" Evy asked, amused, an eyebrow raised at Amy.

"Gran?" the man turned to the old woman, "It's them, isn't it? It's really them!"

"Jeff, shut up!" Amy cried, "Twenty minutes to what?"

"The human residence isn't just your house," Evy said, twisting a few wires together, "It's the entire planet."

"Somewhere up there, there's a spaceship," the Doctor slumped down onto the sofa, "And it's going to incinerate the planet," he took a breath, "Twenty minutes to the end of the world."

"Well," Evy replied from behind the TV, "That's twice as long as we usually have…" she shut the back of the TV and stood up to walk around it, smiling at the Doctor. She picked up the remote and turned the TV on to show some soap opera or another playing.

"How did you do that?" Amy asked, staring in shock at the TV, now playing normal shows.

"She's just brilliant," the Doctor replied, getting up to hug Evy, spinning her around.

"And if I can do _that_ without a sonic," she continued, "Then I'm guessing you can save the world again with…oh…two minutes to spare? That would be a record."

He grinned, "Well then, no time to spare!"

And he was off, pulling Evy along with him, Amy following behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter...this new Evy can be quite intimidating. It appears she's also quite mature...and quite the tease. New outfits abound, but will Evy like the bow-tie?


	2. The Eleventh Hour (Part 2)

The trio was walking past the village green, the Doctor just looking around, confused, "What is this place? Where are we?"

"Leadworth," Amy answered.

"Where's the rest of it?" Evy joked.

"This is it."

"Is there an airport?" the Doctor tried.

"No."

"A nuclear power station?"

"Ha. No."

"Even just a little one?"

"No."

"How far away is the next city?" Evy started frowning again, so far their resources were dwindling.

"Half an hour by car."

"We don't have half an hour," the Doctor grumbled.

"We don't have a car either," Evy countered his grumbles, "Do we?"

"No," Amy agreed.

"Oh, that's good!" the Doctor rolled his eyes, "Fantastic, that is, twenty minutes to save the world, and I've got a Post Office. And it's shut. What is that?" he pointed ahead before rushing towards the object, the girls following after.

"It's a duck pond."

"Where are the ducks?" Evy frowned, looking around, there wasn't any sign of any bird actually.

"I don't know, there's never any ducks!"

"Then how do you know it's a duck pond?" the Doctor continued.

"It just is!" Amy shouted, getting annoyed, "Is it important, a duck pond?"

"I don't know. How would I…" he jerked, clutching his chest as he fell to the ground, "…know?"

"You should have rested," Evy sighed, kneeling down to check on him, her regeneration symptoms had already lessened, the women of Gallifrey never seemed to have as violent a regeneration or as many regeneration pains as the men…her mother used to say it was the Universe's way of creating balance since women gave birth.

"I should have," he admitted, "I'm not ready. I'm not done yet."

Evy looked down at him sadly, stroking his cheek as a shadow fell over them. The trio looked up to see clouds moving in.

"What's happening?" Amy asked, "Why's it going dark?" the darkness passed to reveal the sun, but it looked strange, "What's wrong with the sun?"

"Nothing at all," Evy replied, frowning at the sky, "What's wrong is how you're seeing it, through a force field."

"They've sealed off your upper atmosphere," the Doctor agreed, reaching out to Evy as she helped him to his feet, "Now they're getting ready to boil the planet."

Amy just stared at them, looking around the park at everyone who'd pulled their phones out to film what was happening…all except one, as far as Evy could see.

"Oh, and here they come," the Doctor rolled his eyes, "The human race. See, the end comes, as it was always going to, down a video phone."

"This isn't real, is it?" Amy asked, "This is some kind of big wind-up..."

"Why would I wind you up?" the Doctor asked, tilting his head to the side in confusion.

"You told me you had a time machine."

"And you believed me."

"Then I grew up."

"Never do that," Evy commented.

"No!" the Doctor shouted a moment later, "Hang on, shut up!"

"Excuse me?" Evy turned to face him, an eyebrow raised as she put her hands on her hips.

He blanched, realizing what he'd said, "Sorry, just meant...wait a moment. I missed it," he slapped himself on the forehead painfully, "I _saw_ it and I _missed_ it…" he went to slap himself again, but Evy grabbed his arm, holding his hand to keep him from trying to hit himself again, "What did I see? I saw! _What_ did I see? I saw…I saw…I saw... _I_ didn't see!" he looked over at Evy, " _You_ saw!" he pulled her towards him and gave her a hard kiss before pulling away, beaming, "You're _brilliant_!"

Through her eyes he'd seen a man standing there, not with his phone pointed at the sun, but at a man and his dog a few feet away. He turned to glance at a clock.

"Twenty minutes!" he shouted, turning to the two women, "I can do it! Twenty minutes, the planet burns, run to your loved ones and say goodbye...or stay and help me," he was speaking more to Amy than Evy, he could already hear her in his mind planning to help him.

"...no," Amy said.

"I'm sorry?" he frowned.

"NO!" Amy shouted, grabbing a hold of his tie, pulling him towards a car parked just behind them.

"Amy, no, no! What are you doing?"

She opened the car door, slamming it closed on his tie, trapping him there, before taking the car keys off the man standing beside it and locked it.

"Amy!" Evy shouted, "Have you lost your mind?"

"Who are you?" she demanded, looking between them.

"You know who we are," the Doctor replied.

"I'm Evy," Evy said, "And that's the Doctor."

"No really," she repeated, "Who are you?"

"Look at the sky," the Doctor told her, "End of the world. Twenty minutes."

"Well, better talk quickly then."

"Amy...I am going to need my car back…" the owner cut in gently.

"Yes, in a bit. Now go and have coffee."

"Right…" the man trailed, walking off, "Yes..."

The Doctor reached into his pocket and pulled out the apple Amelia had given him, tossing it to Amy, "Catch."

She caught it and stared down at the apple, knowing it was the one she had given him before he'd taken care of the crack in her wall, the smiley face still there, exactly the same.

"I'm the Doctor," he repeated what Evy had said, "And that's Evy…we're time travelers," Evy remained silent as she let the Doctor handle this, she could just sense that Amy associated more with the Doctor than her, so she let him take charge, "Everything we told you twelve years ago is true. I'm real. Evy's real. What's happening in the sky is real, and if you don't let me go right now, everything you've ever known is over."

"...I don't believe you," Amy said, after a moment of considering it.

"Just…twenty minutes," Evy stepped in just a bit, "You only need to believe us for _twenty minutes_."

"Look at it," the Doctor nodded down at the apple, "Fresh as the day you gave it to me and you _know_ it's the same one," Amy looked up at the Evy a moment before focusing on him, "Amy, believe, for twenty minutes."

There was a moment of tense silence before Amy lifted her hand and unlocked the car door, "What do we do?"

"Stop nurse-boy," Evy said, grinning as she and the Doctor took off running, jumping over a low chain link fence. The Doctor ran right past the nurse, nicking his phone and peering at it just as Amy caught up.

"The sun's going out and you're photographing a man and a dog, why?" the Doctor asked, handing the phone to Evy to look at before she tossed it back to the man.

"Amy!" he shouted, seeing Amy, sounding very relieved that she was safe.

Evy and the Doctor exchanged a secret smile and knowing look.

"Hi!" Amy nodded at the man before turning to them, "Oh, uh, this is Rory, he's a...friend."

"Boyfriend."

"Kind of. Boyfriend."

"Amy!"

"Man and a dog," the Doctor cut in, trying to avoid a lover's spat, "Why?"

"Oh, my gosh," Rory exclaimed, finally looking at the duo properly, "It's him…and her!"

"Why am I always an afterthought?" Evy asked, a bit amused, to the Doctor, who could only shrug.

"Just...answer his question, please," Amy half begged, growing more embarassed.

"It's them though!" Rory was still in shock, "The Doctor, the Raggedy Doctor! And Evy!"

"Yeah!" Amy smiled a bit, "He uh…they came back."

"But they were a story, they were a _game_ …"

"Man and dog!" Evy impatiently grabbed Rory by the front of his shirt, pulling him down to her new level, the clock was ticking, "Why! Tell us! _Now_!"

For her new short stature, she was sure able to intimidate others well, Rory actually looked startled at the small woman threatening him, "Sorry! Because…he can't be there…because he's…"

"In a hospital, in a coma," they both said simultaneously.

"...yeah," Rory looked a bit freaked out by that.

"Knew it," the Doctor grinned as Evy let go of Rory and backed up to stand next to him, "Multi-form, you see? Disguise itself as anything, but it needs a life feed, a psychic link, with a living, but dormant mind."

Just then a dog began barking.

They turned around to see the multi-form of the man standing there, though this time both he _and_ the dog were barking.

The Doctor stepped forward, fully intending to step in front of Evy but Evy had other ideas. She grabbed his hand and stood next to him, squeezing it in reassurance.

"Prisoner Zero," the Doctor greeted.

"What?" Rory gasped, "There's a Prisoner Zero too?"

"Yep," Evy replied.

Suddenly a spaceship with a giant eyeball sticking out of the bottom of it flew over them and hovered by a church, scanning around for their prisoner.

"See, that ship up there is scanning this area for non-terrestrial technology," the Doctor began, taking out his sonic screwdriver, "And nothing says non-terrestrial like a sonic screwdriver!" he quickly held down the button of the sonic and held it in the air above his head.

Evy laughed as streetlamps began exploding, car alarms went off, a mobility scooter went berserk, and a fire engine decided to drive itself down the road with the firemen chasing after it. All the while the ship kept scanning.

"I think someone's gonna notice, don't you?" the Doctor grinned.

The man and dog barked and growled as the Doctor aimed the sonic at a telephone box which exploded quite loudly…but suddenly the screwdriver itself exploded, forcing the Doctor to drop it.

His expression morphed into one of horror as he leaned down to pick up the charred remains, "No, no, no!" he scooped it up, "Don't DO that!"

"What is it with you and destroying sonics?" Evy asked, not as shocked as Amy or Rory that the Doctor's gadget was destroyed, it seemed to be an average occurrence for him.

The ship started to head off.

"It's going!" the Doctor called, "No, come back! He's here! Come back! He's here, Prisoner Zero is here!"

Prisoner Zero gave a smug smirk and then disappeared, glowing orange and melting down into the drain.

"Come back! He's here, Prisoner Zero is...here..."

"Doctor!" Amy called from behind them, "The drain, it just...sort of, melted, and went down the drain."

"Well, of course it did."

"What do we do now?"

"It's hiding in human form," Evy said after a moment of the Doctor looking down at the sonic in sorrow, "We need to drive it into the open."

"No TARDIS, no screwdriver, seventeen minutes, come on..." the Doctor began to mumble, "Think. Think!"

"So that thing..." Amy asked as the Doctor began to pace around, trying to think, "That hid in my house for twelve years?"

"The average life span for multi-forms is quite a few millennia," Evy informed her, distracted, as she tried to think of something as well, "Twelve years is nothing."

"So how come you show up again on the same day that lot do? The same minute?"

"They're looking for him, but they followed us," the Doctor said, "They saw us through the crack, got a fix, they're only late 'cos we are."

"What's he on about?" Rory frowned.

"Nurse-boy, gimme your phone," the Doctor said suddenly, turning to Rory.

"How can they be real? They were _never_ real!"

"Phone! Now! Gimme!"

Rory handed him the phone, distracted, focused on Amy, "It was just a game, we were…we were _kids_ , you made me dress up as him so you could be Evy!"

"If this wasn't a life or death situation," Evy commented, "I'd be flattered Amy."

"These photos, they're all the coma patients?" the Doctor asked, holding up the phone.

"Yep," Rory nodded.

"No," Evy shook her head, leaning over to look at the pictures as well, "They're the multi-form. Eight coma patients means eight disguises for Prisoner Zero."

"He had a dog, though, there's a dog in a coma?" Amy asked.

"Well, the coma patient dreams he's walking a dog, Prisoner Zero gets a dog," the Doctor reasoned, "Laptop!" he looked up from the phone, spinning to face Amy, "Your friend, what was his name? Not him, the good looking one!"

"Thanks," Rory rolled his eyes.

"Jeff," Amy answered.

"Oh, thanks!"

Evy reached out and patted Rory on the shoulder, she could tell he was trying hard to impress Amy and get her to really _notice_ him. She could understand completely how it felt to not be noticed by the person you loved, granted she had been responsible for the not noticing, but still...she could relate.

"He had a laptop in his bag, a laptop," the Doctor said, "Big bag, big laptop! I need Jeff's laptop!" he pointed to Rory and Amy, "You two, get to the hospital. Get everyone out of that ward, clear the floor, phone me when you're done!"

He reached forward and grabbed Evy's hand, pulling her with him back towards Jeff's house while Amy pulled Rory away on their own mission.

~8~

Like before, the Doctor barely stopped as he entered the house and ran straight to Jeff's room, throwing the door open to reveal Jeff, sitting on his bed with the laptop on his lap.

"Hello!" he called, "Laptop. Gimme," he crossed the room and tried to pry the laptop away from Jeff, who was trying desperately to cover the screen and keep it away from the Doctor.

"No, no, no, no, no…" Jeff was saying.

"No it's fine give it here…" the Doctor argued as they tugged.

"Hang on!"

Evy rolled her eyes and walked over to the two struggling men, snatching it right out from between them.

"Ha!" the Doctor shouted victoriously, he reached out to take the laptop from Evy but she stepped back, "Gimme!"

"This one's a bit demanding isn't he?" she asked, recalling his repeated use of 'Gimme!'

"Not really the time," he reminded her, taking the laptop and sitting down on the foot of Jeff's bed. He glanced down at the screen before looking away quickly, shutting the screen so Evy wouldn't have to see what was on there…not that it helped as she'd already gotten an eyeful through the Link, "...blimey! Get a girlfriend, Jeff."

Jeff looked embarrassed as he turned his eye on Evy…

"No," the Doctor said suddenly, seeing where Jeff's gaze was headed, "Just no…she's mine…and…just _don't_."

Jeff's grandmother then popped into the room.

"Gran!" Jeff shouted, still morbidly embarrassed.

"What are you doing?" his grandmother asked.

"Sun's gone wibbly, so right now, somewhere out there, there's gonna be a big old video conference call," the Doctor said, restarting Jeff's computer.

"All the experts will be panicking right about now and they'll be needing just one thing..." Evy added.

"Us," the Doctor smiled to himself. It felt nice to not have to say 'me,' there was an 'us.' There was most definitely an 'us.'

"Oh there they are," Evy grinned, seeing the web conference the Doctor intended to hack into, "NASA, Jodrell Bank, Tokyo Space Center, Patrick Moore..."

"Oh! I like Patrick Moore!" Gran exclaimed.

"I'll get you his number, but watch him, he's a devil," the Doctor warned.

"You can't just hack in on a call like that!" Jeff's eyes widened, they could be _arrested_ for this! He could probably be arrested for letting them do this!

"You're right, I can't…" the Doctor frowned for only a moment before handing the computer to Evy, knowing how much she enjoyed hacking, "But she can."

Evy grinned, cracking her fingers and began to hurriedly type code after code. She grabbed the Doctor's psychic paper out of his pocket and held it up to the webcam.

"Who are you?" someone asked, staring at the woman and man before the camera and the other man behind them, "This is a secure call, what are you doing?"

"Hello!" the Doctor waved, "Yeah, I know, you should switch us off, but before you do, watch this," he nodded at Evy who began to type something into the computer.

"It's them!" someone else shouted as their computers began to show another box.

"I know, I'm getting…" Patrick Moore began.

"Fermat's Theorem," Evy said, typing it in for them to view, "The actual proof, the one no one's ever seen before, poor Fermat was killed in a duel before he could write it down…I wonder whose fault _that_ was?"

Evy glared up at the Doctor who looked at the group of computer whizzes, a bit ashamed, "My fault. I slept in…" he glanced at Evy, "Evy didn't speak to me for a week! Worst week of my life."

Evy rolled her eyes, before typing in some other things, "And here's another, explaining why electrons have mass, and..." she glanced at the Doctor, smiling, "One of his personal favorites, faster than light travel...with two diagrams and a joke. Don't ask."

She stopped typing as the Doctor looked at the men seriously, "Look at your screens. Whoever we are, we're geniuses. Look at the sun. You need all the help you can get. Fellas, pay attention."

~8~

The Doctor was pacing behind Evy, fiddling with Rory's phone, while Evy continued to type something on the laptop.

"Sir!" someone shouted, spotting him, "What are you doing?"

"I am transcribing a computer virus that my lovely Link developed a while ago," the Doctor grinned, ruffling Evy's hair as she shook her head to get him to stop, "Very clever, super fast, and a tiny bit alive, but don't let on. And why am I writing it on a phone? Never mind. You'll find out. Ok, I'm sending this to all your computers."

"Get everyone who works for you on sending this wherever you can, send it everywhere," Evy instructed, "Email, text, FaceBook, Bebo, Twitter, radar dish, smoke signals, whatever you can do. Any questions?"

"What's your name sweetheart?" Patrick Moore asked, flashing a grin at Evy.

"Patrick, behave," the Doctor frowned, the look on his face, though only there for a moment, clearly told the man to back down.

"What does this virus do?" someone else asked.

"Don't worry, it's only a a reset command," Evy waved him off, "It'll reset whatever counter it can through the wi-fi. Clocks, calendars, basically anything with a chip, will default to zero all at once."

"But yeah," the Doctor interrupted lightly, "We could be lying, why should you trust us? Well, I'll let my best man explain."

There was silence as the Doctor waited for something, but nothing happened. Slowly he turned to look over his shoulder at Jeff who was still sitting on his bed, staring at them curiously.

"Jeff," he whispered, " _You're_ my best man."

"You what?" Jeff frowned.

The Doctor looked at Evy and dropped his head onto her shoulder, shaking it, humans really were _so slow_.

Evy turned back to the screen, "Give us a moment please," she shut the screen and they turned to face Jeff.

"Listen to me," the Doctor began, "In ten minutes, you're gonna be a legend. In ten minutes, everyone on that screen is gonna be offering you any job you want. But first, you have to be magnificent. You have to make them trust you and get them working. This is it, Jeff, right here, right now. This is when you fly. Today's the day you save the world."

Jeff looked dumbstruck at that, "…why me?"

"Because it's your bedroom," Evy grinned, "Now, hop to!"

The Doctor pulled Evy up off the bed, rushing out of the room with her as Jeff took his place at the laptop. The Doctor spun in place halfway through the house and ran back to Jeff's room.

"…let's do this," Jeff was saying when the Doctor suddenly opened the door to the room.

"Oh," he said, "And delete your internet history," he then spun around and ran back outside with Evy, he pulled her to the back gate, looked both ways, before rushing off in one direction.

Evy sighed, "Doctor!" she called, he stopped abruptly and turned to face her, she just stuck her thumb out in the opposite direction and he gave her an embarrassed grin before running off in that direction with her.

~8~

Evy had managed to hotwire a car…actually a fire truck…that the Doctor was now racing down the road towards the hospital.

The phone rang and, seeing as how the Doctor was driving, Evy picked up, "Doctor?"Amy asked.

"Evy," she corrected.

"We're at the hospital. But we can't get through…"

"Check the mirror Amy," Evy said quickly, gasping as the Doctor made a sharp turn.

There was silence before Amy spoke again, "...oh."

"What did he say?" she could vaguely make out Rory saying.

"Check the mirror," Amy said, "Ha ha! Uniform!" there was a bit of static and Amy spoke again, "Are you on your way? You're gonna need a car."

"Don't worry," the Doctor shouted as Evy held up the phone, "I've commandeered a vehicle."

Evy put the phone back to her ear, "Actually _I_ commandeered the vehicle…the Doctor's just trying to drive it without destroying it like he does everything else he tries to use."

"Hey!" the Doctor mock whined, "I'm not that bad!"

"I seem to recall quite a few toasters in 1969."

"I was trying to make a Temporal Anomaly Detector."

"Not the first one. The first one you tried to cook pancakes in, and not just reheating already made pancakes…no, you tried to cook the batter in it…what on Earth possessed you to do that I will never know...especially when the stove was only a foot away from it!"

The Doctor grumbled something.

"What was that?" she asked.

"I said, this one doesn't breathe when she's angry, does she?" he asked.

Evy just rolled her eyes and picked up the phone again, "We'll be there soon Amy, just hang on," she flipped the phone closed to see the Doctor continuously glancing down at the button that would turn on the sirens, "Oh go on," she said with a fond smile on her face.

He grinned, slamming the button down and turning the sirens on, driving happily on.

~8~

They had only been driving a few minutes, just pulling up to the hospital, when the phone rang again.

"Are you in?" the Doctor answered this time.

"Yep," Amy replied, "But so's Prisoner Zero."

"You need to get out of there."

"He was so angry, he kept shouting, and shouting, and that dog…" they could hear someone else speaking.

"Amy?" Evy called, "Who is that?"

"The size of that dog," the voice continued, getting a bit farther away, "I swear it was rabid. And he just went mad, attacking everyone. Where did he go? Did you see? Has he gone? We hid in the ladies."

"Amy?"

"Oh, I'm getting it wrong again, aren't I?" the woman said again as Evy and the Doctor looked at each other, "I'm always doing that. So many mouths."

"Amy?" the Doctor shouted, "Amy, what's happening?" they could hear scuffling, the sound of people running before a door slammed shut, "Amy! Talk to me!"

"We're in the coma ward, but it's here, it's getting in," Amy came back.

"Which room are you in?" Evy asked quickly, looking up at the outside of the hospital.

"What, sorry?"

"Which room, which window?" the Doctor repeated for Evy.

"Uh, first floor on the left, fourth from the end."

The Doctor snapped the phone shut, jumping out of the fire engine to see that Evy had already got to work getting the ladder up and ready, heading straight for Amy's window. He jumped onto the ladder, climbing along it as Evy maneuvered it.

He quickly whipped out the phone and sent Amy a text, a simple one, one word…DUCK!

The ladder went straight through the window, about a foot into the room, just missing Amy and Rory who had dropped to the ground. The Doctor sent an 'ok' signal back to Evy, before climbing in through the window, leaping into the room as Evy began her own climb onto the ladder after him.

"Right!" he called, draping an arm around Amy and Rory's shoulders, "Hello! Am I late?"

"Nope," Evy answered, climbing into the room as well, "There's three minutes to go," she smiled at him, "Plenty of time."

"Time for what, Time Lords?" Prisoner Zero asked.

"To break his record," Evy grinned, walking over to the Doctor as he stepped forward, away from Amy and Rory.

"Take the disguise off, they'll find you in a heartbeat," he said to Zero, "Nobody dies."

"The Atraxi will kill me this time," Zero replied, "If I am to die, let there be fire."

"Ha ha, ok…you came to this world by opening a crack in space and time. Do it again. Just leave."

"...I did not open the crack."

"Then who did?" Evy frowned.

"The cracks in the skin of the Universe...you don't know where they came from?" Zero asked, looking at the Doctor and Evy's face, picking up on the fact that they had no idea, something that didn't happen very often to Time Lords, "You don't, do you?"

"The Doctor and his Link in the TARDIS don't know," the mother said, but in a little girl's voice, "Don't know, don't know!" but then the mother's voice returned, "The Universe is cracked. The Pandorica will open. Silence will fall."

There was a noise behind Zero and the Doctor and Evy's eyes flickered to it, their expressions lightening as they relaxed a great deal.

"And, we're off," the Doctor grinned, "Look at that. Look, at that," he pointed and everyone looked to see the clock behind Zero had reset itself to 0:00, "Yeah, I know, just a clock, whatever, but d'you know what's happening right now?" Zero turned back to them, not happy, "In one little bedroom, my team are working. Jeff and the world. And, d'you know what they're doing? They're spreading the word. All over the world. Quantum fast. The word is out."

And so it was, everywhere, all over Earth, clocks and other devices were resetting to 0.

"Do you want to know what the word is?" Evy raised an eyebrow, neither she nor the Doctor noticed Amy and Rory staring at them, one full of amazement at the people he thought fictional, another full of pride, "It's 'zero.'"

"Now, me, if I was up in the sky in a battleship, monitoring all Earth communications, I'd probably take that as a hint," the Doctor continued, lazily draping an arm over Evy's shoulder, smiling when he felt her put her own arm around his waist, "And if I had a whole battle fleet surrounding the planet, I'd be able to track a simple old computer virus to its source in...what?" he looked at Evy, "Under a minute?" she nodded, "The source, by the way...is right here," he pulled out Rory's phone from his pocket and held it up moments before a blinding white light flashed through the windows, "Ooh, and I think they just found us!"

Rory and Amy ran to the window to look out at one of the Atraxi ships flying over the hospital, hovering there as it shined a spotlight from its pupil.

"The Atraxi are limited," Zero replied, not worried, "While I'm in this form, they'll still be unable to detect me. They've tracked a phone. Not me."

"Yeah!" the Doctor laughed, "But this is the good bit, I mean, this is my favorite bit," he turned to Evy, "Evy?"

"This phone is full of something very interesting," she commented, taking the phone and holding it up for her to see, "Pictures...of you. Of every form you've learned to take, all right here."

The Doctor took the phone back, pushing a single button, "Oh, and, being uploaded, about...now. And the final score is, no TARDIS, no screwdriver, two minutes to spare...who da man?" he threw his arms out in joy.

Everyone just stared at him as though he'd gone insane. Even Prisoner Zero looked unimpressed.

Evy just shook her head at him, a sympathetic smile on her face.

"...oh," he trailed, lowering his arms, "Well. I'm just...never saying that again. Fine."

Evy stepped over to him, giving him a small kiss on the cheek, "You da man," she smirked, laughter in her voice, "But seriously… _never_ say that again."

"Right…" he grinned before turning to face Prisoner Zero again.

"Then I shall take a new form," Zero said.

"Oh, stop it, you know you can't. Takes months to form that kind of psychic link."

But then Zero grinned, "And I've had _years_."

Zero began to glow orange as the Doctor and Evy stared, a sense of dread creeping up on them. And their feelings were confirmed when, moments later, Amy collapsed behind them. Evy and the Doctor spun around at Rory's shout and ran to her side, the Atraxi ship hesitating outside, confused.

"No!" the Doctor shouted, "Amy!" he reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder, "You've gotta hold on! Amy! Don't sleep! You've gotta stay awake, please!"

"Doctor!" Rory shouted, pointing at Zero.

Evy and the Doctor looked up, only to see himself standing here.

The Doctor straightened, bemused, "...well that's rubbish. Who's that supposed to be?"

"You," Evy replied.

"Me?" he asked incredulously, turning to Evy, "Is _that_ what I look like?"

"More or less."

"You don't know?" Rory frowned.

"Busy day," he remarked, turning back to Evy, "What do you see in that?"

Evy just rolled her eyes jokingly, "Not sure yet."

The Doctor just grinned at her before getting up to go look at himself, Evy remaining with Rory and Amy, "Why me, though? You're linked with _her_! Why are you copying _me_?"

"I'm not," Zero said, her voice small, as though she were a child. And then young Amelia stepped from behind the Doctor's back.

Evy couldn't help but smile softly at that, that was the moment they opened the crack and the Doctor had protected the girl from her worst fear. It was sweet that _that_ was what she associated the Doctor with, protection, her hero, she could understand now why she was an afterthought.

"Poor Amy Pond," Zero commented, "Still such a child inside. Dreaming of the magic Doctor she knows will return to save her. What a disappointment you've been."

"No…" his eyes widened, "She's not _dreaming_ about me…she can _hear_ me!" he ran back over to Evy's side and crouched down beside her and Amy, "Amy. Don't just hear me, _listen_. Remember the room, the room in your house you couldn't see. Remember you went inside, I tried to stop you but you did. You went in the room. You went inside. Amy...dream about what you saw.

"No!" Zero shouted, "No! No!" they watched as Zero began to fade to orange, slowly turning into the form that Amy had seen in the room as the Doctor walked over to face it. It became a very serpentine figure with sharp teeth and a roar like a lion.

"Well done, Prisoner Zero," the Doctor smirked, "A perfect impersonation of yourself."

The light outside the window intensified, locking on to Zero as she thrashed.

"Prisoner Zero is located," the Atraxi announced, "Prisoner Zero is restrained."

The Doctor stared Zero down as the creature turned to face him, "Silence, Doctor. Silence will fall."

And then, slowly, it faded away into nothing as the Atraxi ship powered up and left.

The Doctor ran to the window, checking to see if it was, in fact, leaving. He turned around to see Evy now standing with Rory's phone and typing on it rapidly.

"The…the sun, is back to normal, right?" Rory asked, leaning over to try and look outside without leaving Amy's side, "That's...that's good, yeah? That means it's over."

The Doctor just nodded as Amy began to wake up.

"Amy?" Rory asked, checking her over, "Are you ok? Are you with us?"

"What happened?" Amy frowned, feeling like she'd missed the best part of a movie.

"He did it. The Doctor did it. Him and Evy."

"Not quite yet," the Doctor replied.

"What are you doing?" Rory followed the man's gaze to see Evy fiddling with his phone.

"Just tracking the signal back," she replied, "Sorry about this."

"About what?"

Evy glanced up at him, smirking, "The bill."

"Aw…" Rory's face fell.

The Doctor just grinned as Evy tossed him the phone, "Oi!" he called into it, "We didn't say you could go! Article 57 of the Shadow Proclamation. This is a fully established _level five planet_. And you were gonna burn it? What? Did you think no one was watching? You lot. Back here, now," he hung up and tossed the phone back to Rory, "Ok. _Now_ we've done it."

Evy grinned and took the Doctor's hand, pulling him out of the room.

"Uh, did he just bring them back?" Rory asked as Amy got up and moved to follow them quickly, Rory going after her, "Did he just save the world from aliens, and then bring all the aliens back again?"

The Doctor pushed through a set of double doors, striding down the hall with Evy.

"Where are you going?" Amy asked, catching up to them.

"The roof!" Evy grinned, "The Doctor's got some aliens to deal with."

He turned to give her what the humans thought was meant to be a disapproving look but it was hopelessly foiled by the humor in his eyes, "You just love getting me into these situations don't you?"

Her grin widened, "I do," she admitted, "And anyway, it's not like _I_ can talk to them, they barely know who I am…it's you everyone hears about."

"Speaking of talking to them," the Doctor veered off and into a dressing room, everyone following. He searched around the room, picking up odd pieces of clothing, keeping one, throwing others over his shoulder for Rory to scoop up. Evy on the other hand, just looked around, eyeing the clothing before picking up only the pieces she needed.

"What's in here?" Amy frowned, confused.

"Well, if I'm about to save the world, I need a decent shirt!" he stated as though it were obvious, "To hell with the raggedy, time to put on a show!" he spun around with a coat before dropping it.

"He's just summoned aliens back to Earth!" Rory looked at Amy, "Actual aliens! Deadly aliens! Aliens...of death, and...now you're..." he looked at the Doctor, before rolling his eyes, "Taking your clothes off."

Evy was watching amusedly as the Doctor proceeded to strip in a corner of the room, trying on some new shirts.

"Amy, he's taking his clothes off," Rory turned to the ginger.

"Turn your back if it embarrasses you," the Doctor shot back.

"Are you stealing clothes now?" he glanced at Amy. Evy smiled softly, poor Rory was trying his hardest to impress her, "Those clothes belong to people…you know!" he turned around to give the Doctor privacy but when he glanced over at Amy again he saw her smirking and watching the Doctor, "...are you not gonna turn your back?"

"Nope," Amy replied smugly.

Evy barely let Amy's words and intention faze her as she stepped forward in between the Doctor and Amy, blocking her view of him, "Amy…" she began, reaching out to lay her hands on the ginger's shoulders, "Turn around," she nudged her, turning Amy around like Rory was.

Amy huffed, "Fine."

Evy laughed silently to herself and turned around to see the Doctor looking up at her, an odd expression on his face, "What?" she asked.

He glanced down at himself and looked up at her meaningfully.

She shook her head, "It's not like I haven't seen you before," she thought back to when the human Doctor had appeared in the TARDIS through the meta-crisis.

"Yeah but…" he actually looked a bit bashful, "…new body...new...other things…"

Evy rolled her eyes, it seemed this Doctor was just a bit shy, "You're not the only one, you know," she said before reaching behind her to the zipper of her dress and pulling it down.

Her dress was already off her shoulders when the Doctor's eyes widened and he spun around to quickly finish dressing. It wasn't that he didn't want to stare at her new body, but if he did…he would end up keeping the Atraxi waiting quite a long time and probably scar Rory and Amy for life…neither was very good. But he certainly knew one thing...his Evy appeared to be quite the tease now.

~8~

Up on the roof of the hospital the Doctor stepped out, just finishing buttoning up the pink shirt he'd finally selected as Evy followed, pulling her hair into a high ponytail while Amy and Rory came out after them. The Doctor kept trying to secretly look at Evy out of the corner of his eye, though he failed miserably as his new body hadn't quite mustered the turn of the neck yet and every time he tried his entire head would turn to stare at her.

He couldn't help it though. The outfit she'd selected suited the new her very well. It was a pair of dark blue jeans that tucked into a pair of knee high brown boots. She was wearing a dark red shirt with a brown, almost leather, jacket over it. In his opinion she vaguely resembled a hero out of a western movie. He briefly considered making her a holster for her sonic, complete the outfit so to speak.

The Doctor himself was a mess though. He had his pants half on, the braces hanging loose by his legs while Rory held a number of coats that had been tossed to him to try on later. He had about five different ties lying around his neck. But he had little time to actually think on that as he caught sight of the Atraxi waiting there for them.

"So, this was a good idea, was it?" Amy asked, "They were leaving!"

"Leaving is good," Evy defended the Doctor's actions, "But never coming back is better."

"Come oooooooon then!" the Doctor stepped up, shouting at the ship, "The Doctor will see you now!"

He turned back to see Evy grinning at him, "I love it when you say that," she laughed.

He grinned as well, turning back as the eye in the center of the ship released and zoomed down to land before him. A white light emitted from its pupil, scanning him. He waited patiently for it to finish before he pulled up his braces.

"You are not of this world," the Atraxi stated.

"Nope," he said, popping his p, "But neither is Evy over there."

Evy waved at the Atraxi, waiting as they scanned her as well.

"But I've put a lot of work into it," the Doctor said, glancing at Evy, "We both have…" he fiddled around with a tie, holding it up to examine before holding it up to the small group around him, "Um...uh...I dunno. What do you think?"

Evy shook her head fondly and walked over to him, pulling the tie in his hand away from his neck and tossing it to Rory. She continued to examine the rest of the ties as Doctor focused on the Atraxi.

"Is this world important?" the Atraxi asked.

"Important?" Evy spun to face the eyeball, utterly mad that the Atraxi could even _question_ it, "What do you mean by _important_? Six _billion_ _people_ live here. Of course it's important!"

"Here's a better question," the Doctor cut in, resting a gentle hand on Evy's shoulder to calm her. Evy took a breath before turning back to the Doctor, tossing another tie away to Amy, "Is this world a threat to the Atraxi? Come on, you're monitoring the whole planet. Is this world a threat?"

A light emitted from the eye again, only this time it formed a hologram of the Earth, flickering through different images of Earth's transmissions in history, not excluding the many nuclear explosions, wars, and armies…but also taking into account the religions of the world, the praying, the good in it.

"...no," the Atraxi answered.

"Are the people of this world guilty of any crime by the laws of the Atraxi?" the Doctor continued, another tie went off.

The images flickered again, to street carnivals, crowds, costumes, more of the trivial things of the world.

"No."

"Ok!" he grinned at Evy, winking at her as she was left to pick between the last two ties, "One more, just one. Is this world protected?"

The images shifted to the Cybermen, the Daleks, the Raconoss, the Ood, the Sycorax, the Sontarians, the Silurians, the Reapers, the Hath, and many other aliens that had come to Earth at any given time, each never seeming to last long enough to do serious damage.

Evy grinned as she found the perfect tie, tossing the other to Rory so she could begin stringing it round to a bow-tie. She practically buzzed with excitement at what the Doctor was doing.

"'Cos you're not the first lot to have come here," he continued as the images played, "Oh, there have been SO many. And what you've got to ask is...what happened to them?"

They turned away, walking over to Rory, Evy selecting just one tweed coat for the Doctor to wear before helping him into it. They stepped to the side to watch the Atraxi's hologram flicker through of all the Doctor's previous incarnations. Evy looked at each fondly, seeing his past selves flashing before her. She was a bit surprised, however, when it got to his last body and her own recent incarnations were standing there beside him.

The Doctor, sensing her thoughts, reached out and took her hand. He walked forward, through the hologram of his last life, Evy pulled along with him as the hologram disappeared, "Hello," he grinned, "I'm the Doctor…" he looked over at Evy fondly, kissing the back of her hand, "And this is my Link, Evy…" he gave a small breath of happy laughter before turning back to the Atraxi, "Basically…run."

Evy had to bite her lip to keep from laughing as the eye literally shook in fear, seeming to widen, even without eyelids, and scoot back before shooting off into the ship again and taking off hurriedly.

Amy and Rory laughed behind them as they stared up at the sky, grinning.

Evy suddenly jerked, drawing the Doctor's attention. She quickly pulled out the TARDIS key from her pocket, looking up at the Doctor as it glowed in her hand.

"Is that it?" Amy asked, watching the ship fade in the distance, "Is that them, gone for good?" she waited a moment before asking, "Who were they?"

There was no answer.

She and Rory looked around, only to see that the door to the roof was wide open and the Doctor and Evy were gone.

~8~

The Doctor held on tightly to Evy's hand as they both raced through the hospital, out the front door, and towards the street. Evy couldn't help but laugh as the Doctor pulled her straight past the fire engine, forgetting it completely in the last of his memory lapse.

It was a good thing the town was so small as they managed to make it back to Amy's backyard without breaking a sweat. They smiled gently when they caught sight of the TARDIS, standing upright, looking just as blue as the first paintjob and almost brand new. There was no more smoke, no more glowing. There was a St. John's Ambulance sticker on the door and it seemed to have changed its shape just a bit, but it still looked amazing to them.

"Ok," the Doctor breathed, "What have you got for us this time?" he turned to Evy, taking the key from her and ran to the doors, quickly unlocking them and standing in the doorway, looking in.

"Look at you!" Evy exclaimed as she leaned against the Doctor, the TARDIS looked beautiful, "You sexy thing. Just look at you!"

The Doctor stepped in, Evy shutting the door behind her, and the TARDIS faded away, just as Amy and Rory rushed over.

~8~

The Doctor took the TARDIS on a quick trip to the moon, just to get her legs stretched so to speak, a short trip comparatively speaking, before heading back to Amy's, materializing just in the spot it had last appeared in.

"Not again," Evy grumbled as she stepped out to see that it was dark out, the Doctor had been trying for another five minute jump, wanting to prove he could do it without years going by. She turned to him, "Next time _I'm_ piloting."

The Doctor looked at the TARDIS, a bit concerned, before shrugging and leaning against the door as another door shut. They looked over to see Amy stepping out of her house, pulling a dressing gown on.

"Sorry about running off earlier!" the Doctor called, "Brand new TARDIS, bit exciting! Just had a quick hop to the moon and back to run her in," Amy stopped a little ways away from them, just beneath an arch of vines.

"She's all set for travelling now," Evy agreed, gently patting the side of the TARDIS door.

"...it's you," Amy looked between the two of them, before focusing on the Doctor, "You came back."

"Course we came back," he grinned, "We always come back. Something wrong with that?"

"And you kept the clothes?" Amy looked them over as she moved to stand next to the TARDIS.

"Well, we just saved the world. The whole planet, for about the millionth time, no charge, yeah. Shoot us. We kept the clothes."

"Including the bow-tie."

"Yeah," he nodded, "It's cool. Bow-ties are cool."

"Very cool," Evy agreed, having been the one to select it for him, it just seemed to...fit...the new him. She reached out to pat the bow-tie, earning a large grin from the Doctor.

"Are you from another planet?" Amy asked them suddenly, eyeing them suspiciously.

"Yeah," the Doctor replied.

"Ok…"

"So what do you think?"

"What?"

"Other planets, want to see some?" Evy clarified.

"What does that mean?"

"It means, well, it means..." the Doctor frowned, looking at Evy who shrugged, he turned back to Amy, beaming, "Come with us."

"Where?"

"Wherever," Evy said, " _When_ ever. It's up to you."

Amy looked up at the TARDIS as though recalling a lovely dream, "All that stuff that happened, the hospital, the spaceships, Prisoner Zero…"

"Oh, don't worry, that's just the beginning, there's loads more," the Doctor grinned.

"Doctor…" Evy began, really looking around…things seemed different…again…

"Yeah, but those things, those...amazing things, all that stuff…" Amy trailed as the Doctor nodded happily.

Evy just shook her head at him, realizing _why_ things looked off…apparently years had gone by…again.

"That was two YEARS ago!" Amy shouted, a hard look on her face.

The Doctor looked over at Evy who inhaled deeply and then nodded her head, he trusted her, she was always better at that then he was, "Oh. Oops."

"Yeah."

"So that's..."

"Fourteen years!"

"Fourteen years since fish custard," the Doctor frowned, feeling very sorry that he'd taken up so much of the girl's life, "Amy Pond. The girl who waited, you've waited long enough."

"...when I was a kid, you said there was a swimming pool," Amy said after a moment, "And a library...and the swimming pool was _in_ the library.

"Might not still be there..." Evy frowned, trying to recall where the two rooms had gone.

"It'll turn up!" the Doctor waved it off, "So! Coming?"

Amy shook her head, "No."

"You wanted to come fourteen years ago," Evy argued.

"I grew up."

"Don't worry," the Doctor laughed, "We'll soon fix that," he snapped his fingers and turned to the TARDIS expectantly, only for his expression to falter seeing the doors still shut.

Evy rolled her eyes and snapped her own fingers, the TARDIS doors opening on their own for her. She laughed, "She still likes me better!"

The Doctor mumbled something under his breath before reaching out and draping an arm around her shoulders. They stepped off to the side to allow Amy to look in, both smiling smugly as she slowly started to walk towards it. As soon as she was in, they followed, Evy shutting the door as the Doctor stepped around Amy to get to the console. Evy joined him moments later, smiling widely at Amy, who was staring around at the large room, wide eyed and in shock, just taking it all in.

Evy could imagine what she was feeling. Finally getting something that you had dreamed of for years, it was how she felt when she'd first gotten to travel with the Doctor, finally being reunited with him after _so many years_ …it was incredible. It really warmed her hearts to be able to help give that feeling to someone else.

"Well?" the Doctor asked after a moment, "Anything you wanna say? Any passing remarks? I've heard them all."

Amy looked completely lost for words, still looking at the room. Evy gave it a glance as well, it was larger than it had been, a bit more complex in a multi-leveled way she just couldn't describe.

"...I'm in my nightie," Amy breathed.

Evy snorted, the Doctor certainly hadn't heard _that_ one before. She turned to Amy, "Clothes are in the wardrobe, lots to choose from…and you never know, the swimming pool might just be there too."

"So!" the Doctor shouted, clapping his hands, "All of time and space, everything that ever happened or that ever will. Where do you wanna start?"

Amy looked away from the room and focused on the Doctor and Evy before stalking up to them, "You are both _so_ sure that I'm coming."

"Yeah. We are."

"Why?"

"Because we know exactly how you feel," Evy answered, "Being the Scottish girl in the English village..."

The Doctor walked around the console, prodding things Evy was certain he shouldn't, so she had to follow him around, reversing whatever mess he was about to get them into.

"Oh, do you?" Amy called, watching them.

"Well, all these years living here, most of your life, and you've still got that accent," the Doctor commented, "Yeah, you're coming," he dinged a little bell on the console.

"Stop that," Evy chastised lightly.

"Can you get me back for tomorrow morning?" Amy asked.

"It's a _time machine_ ," the Doctor reminded her, "We can get you back for five minutes ago."

"He hopes," Evy joked, before glancing at Amy, "Why? What happens tomorrow?"

"Nothing," she answered quickly, a bit too fast in Evy's opinion as she looked at the girl curiously, "Nothing! Just, you know...stuff."

"Alright…" the Doctor nodded slowly, picking up on what Evy had, their dear Amelia Pond was hiding something, "Back in time for 'stuff.'"

"Doctor!" Evy called, motioning for him to come over. He ran around the console to see a new sonic screwdriver popping up from the console. He snatched it up quickly and began to look at it gleefully, "Happy now? You've got your sonic back."

"So have you," he nodded at her own original sonic in her hands.

"I'm actually thinking of going sonic-free," she commented offhandedly.

He stared at her in shock, "What?"

"Joking," she laughed at his stunned face, she could never give up her sonic. She flashed him quickly, lighting his face with a white glow, tinged just a bit with a pale blue hue, before sliding it into her pocket.

He grinned, flashing her with his new green light as well. He slid the sonic into the inner pocket of his coat before laying a hand on the console, "Thanks dear," he whispered to the TARDIS. He turned quickly on his heels and ran around the console, typing away at a typewriter styled keypad.

Amy watched as Evy pulled a lever and pushed a few buttons, both she and the Doctor working in tandem, "Why me?" she asked suddenly.

"Why not?" Evy countered, smirking.

"No, seriously. You are asking me to run away with you in the middle of the night, it's a fair question. Why me?"

"Dunno!" the Doctor shrugged, "Fun! Do we have to have a reason?"

"People always have a reason."

"Do we even look like people?" Evy asked, repeating the Doctor's earlier words, knowing the girl would remember it.

"Yes!"

"Been knocking around on our own for a while," the Doctor sighed, glancing at Evy, "But apparently I just keep talking...all the time…"

"It's giving me an earache," Evy grumbled playfully, nudging him in the stomach lightly.

"You're lonely?" Amy frowned at them, noticing for the first time the actual weariness in their eyes, the aged feel that could only come from travelling for a very long time, "That's it? Just that?"

"Just that," the Doctor agreed, "Promise."

Evy looked sadly over at the Doctor, they had each other and that was more than enough for them, but the weight of the knowledge that their _entire race_ was _gone_ was a heavy burden to bear. It eased their souls to know they weren't the last, that they weren't alone, but, at the same time, knowing it was _only_ the two of them was almost worse, if something ever happened to one of them…

She was about to say something when a flicker on a the monitor just behind the Doctor's head caught her eye. It was shaped like the crack that had been on Amy's wall. She quickly reached out and turned off the screen, knowing Amy didn't have many fond memories of that crack. The Doctor glanced up at her, seeing the crack in her mind and glancing back at the screen as well.

But the crack was gone.

"Ok," Amy was saying, pulling their attention back.

"You're alright then?" Evy asked, shaking her head, trying to forget the crack and the fact that it had managed to appear in the TARDIS.

"'Cos this place…" the Doctor continued, "Sometimes it can make people feel a bit...you know."

"I'm fine," Amy replied, "Fine. It's just...there's a whole world in here, just like you said. It's all true. I thought, well, I'd…I'd started to think that maybe you were just like a...madman with a box."

"Amy Pond," the Doctor said, suddenly _very_ serious, "There's something you better understand about me, 'cos it's important, and one day, your life may depend on it…"

Amy listened to him intently.

"He is _definitely_ a madman with a box," Evy grinned, laughing until Amy did the same, both laughing at the Doctor's pout which was quickly remedied by Evy's kiss on the cheek.

"Ha ha," he smiled, before running around the console, flipping a few switches as he went, Evy moving to the other side of the console to do the same, "Yes! Goodbye, Leadworth! Hello…everything!"

He jammed down on a lever, sending a jolt through the TARDIS, forcing them to cling to the console. The TARDIS dematerialized, the Time Lords within laughing while Amy looked bewildered but excited nonetheless.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this wasn't up yesterday! I had a splitting migraine and after work I just wanted to sleep and ended up sleeping right through to my alarm this morning :/ Feeling better now though :)
> 
> As for this chapter, Martha Jones once said that if you stick with Evy, she'll never leave you on your own, she'll watch out for you. That will never be more true. Evy will definitely change quite a few things about this Series.
> 
> Next chapter...the Doctor's pickpocketing skills have greatly improved. He's also seemed to have developed a habit whenever he sits down. And the Doctor really needs to stop talking.


	3. The Beast Below (Part 1)

Amy was floating outside the TARDIS, the Doctor keeping her somewhat grounded by holding her ankle as Evy leaned against the side of the doors, watching and just a bit ready to grab the girl incase the Doctor accidently let go.

"Come on, Pond," the Doctor laughed, pulling her back inside.

"Believe us now?" Evy smiled, stepping into the TARDIS more so that Amy could be pulled in easier.

"Ok, your box is a spaceship," Amy nodded, "It's really, _really_ a spaceship. We are in _space_! Whoo! What are we breathing?"

"I asked Evy to extend the air shell," the Doctor shrugged.

"Perfectly safe," Evy added.

The Doctor suddenly squatted down, "Now, that's interesting…" he muttered. Evy and Amy looked over, seeing a spaceship with skyscrapers and other buildings encased in glass drifting by below them. The Doctor stood, taking Evy's hand and pulling her back to the console, "29th century, solar flares roast the Earth, and the entire human race packs its bags…" he and Evy got to work putting in coordinates for the spaceship, "And moves out till the weather improves. Whole nations..."

"Doctor?" Amy asked.

"…migrating to the stars."

"Doctor?"

"Isn't that amazing?" he grinned over at Evy.

"Doctor!"

They looked over to see Amy was outside the TARDIS again, clinging to the top of it. Evy laughed as the Doctor walked back over to the door, taking Amy's hand and pulling her back in once more, "Come on. We've found us a spaceship."

He led Amy over to the console where Evy had pulled up a close-up of the spaceship on the monitor, "According to the databanks, the ship is the Starship United Kingdom of Britain and Northern Ireland," she stated, "The Starship UK for short."

The Doctor grinned, "All of it, bolted together and floating in the sky. Starship UK. It's Britain, but metal. That's not just a ship, that's an idea."

"It's a whole _country_ ," Evy smiled, shifting through the images, displaying different parts of the ship. She always loved seeing the humans pushing their limits, stepping past their boundaries, surviving, they truly were a fantastic race, "Living, laughing..."

"Shopping?" the Doctor cut in, making Amy chuckle as an image of the marketplace appeared.

"Out among the stars," Evy finished, rolling her eyes at the Doctor, "On a quest for a new home."

"Can we go out and see?" Amy asked.

"Course we can but first, there's a thing," the Doctor turned to her, serious.

"A thing?" Amy frowned as Evy flipped through the monitor, showing more of the _people_ on the ship.

"An important thing," he nodded, "In fact, thing one…" he held up a magnifying glass, looking at her through it, "We are observers only. That's the one rule I've always stuck to in my travels. I never get involved in the affairs of other peoples or planets..."

Evy snorted.

"What?" he turned to her.

"You never get involved?" she raised an eyebrow, smiling at him, "YOU?"

"Ooh!" he turned to the monitor, effectively not answering, "That's interesting."

There was a little girl in a red jacket, sitting alone, crying...

Immediately the Doctor and Evy's hearts twisted and tugged.

"So we're like a wildlife documentary, yeah?" Amy asked, "'Cos if they see a wounded little cub or something, they can't just save it, they've got to keep filming and let it die," she frowned, watching the girl sob, "That's got to be hard. I don't think I could do that. Don't you find that hard, being all, like, detached and cold?" suddenly the Doctor appeared on screen with the girl but she ran away, revealing Evy in the background "Doctor? Evy?"

The Doctor looked at the camera and waved at her, motioning for her to join them. Amy frowned a moment before heading over to the door, stepping out.

"Welcome to London Market," a loudspeaker announced, "You are being monitored."

Amy looked around in amazement, seeing stars through the arched glass ceiling. The market stretched out the entire floor, with series of stalls and booths with vendors selling their wares.

"I'm in the future," Amy breathed, "Like hundreds of years in the future. I've been dead for centuries."

"Oh, lovely," the Doctor remarked as he and Evy walked over to her, "You're a cheery one. Never mind dead, look at this place!" he looked over at Evy to see her frowning and looking down, "Isn't it wrong?"

"What's wrong?"

"Everything," Evy breathed. The Doctor took her hand, the two of them walking along with Amy beside them.

"Use your eyes, notice everything," the Doctor told Amy, "What's wrong with this picture?"

"Is it...the bicycles?" she pointed to one, "Bit unusual on a spaceship, bicycles. "

"Say-eth nightie girl," Evy raised her eyebrow at her.

"Oh, my God!" Amy gasped as though just remembering what she was wearing, "I'm in my nightie."

"Now, come on, look around you," the Doctor said again, "Actually _look_."

"London Market is a crime-free zone," the loudspeaker announced.

"Nothing's _ever_ crime-free," Evy remarked.

"Life on a giant starship, back to basics," the Doctor sighed, "Bicycles, washing lines, wind-up street lamps. But look closer. Secrets and shadows, lives led in fear. Society bent out of shape, on the brink of collapse."

"It's a police state."

"One moment..." he dashed over to a table and took a glass of water off of it, placing it gently on the floor, looking at it intently.

' _No vibrations_ ,' Evy remarked, ' _A ship this big, it would need a huge engine, there's no way it wouldn't be felt._ '

The Doctor nodded, setting the glass on the table, "Sorry," he looked at the people sitting there, "Checking all the water in this area. There's an escaped fish," he tapped the side of his nose and ran back to the girls, taking Evy's hand once more.

"An escaped fish?" Evy laughed.

"What's wrong with that?"

"I swear there was a time when you had better excuses than that," she told him, nudging his side.

"Why did you just do that with the water?" Amy asked.

"Don't know," he told her, "I think a lot. It's hard to keep track. Now, Evy was saying, police state, do you see it yet?"

"Where?" Amy looked around.

"There," Evy nodded over to the girl in red, sitting alone on a bench, still crying. Everyone walked past her, ignoring her.

They walked over to a bench away from her and just sat there, watching, the Doctor pulling Evy down into his lap in the process.

"One little girl crying," Amy shook her head, confused, "So?"

"Crying _silently_ ," he corrected, "I mean, children cry 'cos they want attention, 'cos they're hurt or afraid."

"Crying silently means they can't seem to stop," Evy eyed the girl sympathetically, "All parents knows that."

"Are you a parent?" Amy eyed her.

The Doctor looked down at the question even though it wasn't directed at him, squeezing Evy's hand. Neither of them had good memories of parenthood. First Eta with him and then Jenny with the both of them. He didn't want to think on that now because...he _did_ want children, with Evy, _so badly_...but he was terrified. He'd lost Eta, he'd lost Jenny, he'd lost Riku as well...he did not have the greatest luck with children or those he cared for living full, healthy lives. He couldn't even say that about most of his companions. Within the last few years Rose had been torn away and locked in a parallel world, Martha's entire family had witnessed half the planet burn while Martha herself had been trapped wandering it, Donna could never travel with them again for fear of her mind melting...he'd barely been able to keep them _alive_. He'd been lucky so far that Evy truly was as resilient as he was, but...facing dangers like Daleks or Cybermen or any of the other hundreds of enemies he'd made in his travels were one thing, they were something he could _do something_ about, something he could _protect_ her from.

He couldn't protect her from the dangers of childbirth. He'd learned that the hard way. He couldn't lose her, he couldn't lose another child, not again. That pain...it would kill him. He didn't even want to entertain the _thought_ of it. And that _killed_ him, because he'd give _anything_ for a child with Evy, a true child, not a genetic anomoly or a 'test-tube' baby, but an honest and pure baby.

"I had a lot of cousins," Evy replied softly, squeezing the Doctor's hand back, trying not to think about what had happened to her cousins, "Most of them younger than me."

Amy nodded, it made sense.

"Hundreds of parents walking past this spot and not one of them's asking her what's wrong," the Doctor continued, shaking himself out of his thoughts, "Which means..."

"That they already know what's wrong," Evy sighed, "But they won't talk about. They can't."

"Secrets. They're not helping her so it's something they're afraid of. Shadows, whatever they're afraid of, it's nowhere to be seen."

"So it's everywhere. A police state."

The girl stood up as a lift bell rang. Evy frowned, seeing a smiling figure in a nearby booth turn to watch her, she pointed it out to the Doctor with a gentle nudge and a nod.

"Where'd she go?" Amy asked.

"Deck 207, Apple Sesame block, Dwelling 54A," the Doctor answered, "You're looking for Mandy Tanner. Oh…" he reached into his pocket and pulled out an ID wallet, "This fell out of her pocket when I accidentally bumped into her," he handed it to Amy, "Took me four goes."

"At least you're a better pickpocket this time," Evy commented.

"You think so?"

"You tried to take my Filter off 17 times when we were in Shan Shen, remember? And you still couldn't do it."

"So I am," he smiled, turning to Amy, "Ask her about those things, the smiling fellows in the booths. They're everywhere."

"But they're just things," Amy shook her head.

"Except they're clean," Evy noted, "This place, everything in it, is battered and filthy and yet those booths are clean."

"Not a footprint within two feet of them," the Doctor agreed, "Ask Mandy, 'Why are people scared of the things in the booths?'"

"No," Amy shook her head again, "Hang on, what do I do?" she leaned in and hissed, "I don't know what I'm doing here and I'm not even dressed!"

"It's this or Leadworth. What do you think? Let's see. What will Amy Pond choose? Ha ha, gotcha!" he checked his watch, "Meet us back here in half an hour."

"What are you going to do?"

"What I always do," he told her, nudging Evy to stand so he could get up, "Stay out of trouble," and then he had to add, "Badly," before he leapt over the bench and walked away, turning around to walk backwards.

Evy sighed, "Which means I must do what I always do," she smiled at Amy, "Get him out of the trouble he baldy 'stays out of,'" she jogged around the bench and over to the Doctor, taking his hand in her own.

"So is this how it works?" Amy called over to them, turning to face them as she leaned on the bench, "This is the only time you interfere in the affairs of other peoples or planets?"

"When children are crying," Evy nodded, the Doctor giving Amy a small salute as they turned and disappeared into the market.

~8~

The Doctor climbed down a ladder into a maintenance hallway, reaching out to place his hands on Evy's waist as she climbed down after him. She jumped down, turning in the Doctor's arms when she felt them lock around her. She draped her arms around his neck and gave him a quick kiss before pulling away and placing her hand on the wall, feeling for the vibrations that should have been there.

"No vibrations here either," she said, knocking, only to get a hollow sound.

The Doctor leaned against the wall to listen, but didn't hear anything, "Can't be," he pulled out his sonic, flashing the walls, trying to get a reading.

"Doctor," Evy placed a hand on his shoulder.

He looked back at her to see her looking at the floor. There was a cup of water there, still. He moved over to it, lying down and staring right at it.

"The impossible truth in a glass of water," someone hissed. They looked over to see a woman in a red cloak wearing a white mask, "Not many people see it," the Doctor stood, moving in front of Evy as they faced the mysterious woman, "But you do, don't you, Doctor?" she looked at him and then over at Evy, "And you Evy?"

"Do we know you?" Evy frowned.

"Keep your voice down! They're everywhere. Tell me what you see in the glass."

"Who says we see anything?" the Doctor replied.

"Don't waste time! At the marketplace, you placed a glass of water on the floor, looked at it, then came straight here to the engine room. Why?"

The Doctor sighed, "No engine vibration on deck and a ship this size would need a rather large engine, you'd feel it. The water would move."

"We thought we'd check it out," Evy added, "I'm good with engines."

The Doctor moved over to a power box on the wall to reveal two plugs not attached, "It doesn't make sense. These power couplings, they're not connected. Look. Look, they're dummies, see?" he crossed the hall and tapped the wall like Evy had done, "And behind this wall, nothing. It's hollow. If we didn't know better, we'd say there was..."

"No engine at all," the woman finished.

"But it's working," Evy shook her head in thought, "This ship is moving though space. We saw it before."

"The impossible truth. We're travelling among the stars in a spaceship that could never fly."

"How?"

"I don't know. There's a darkness at the heart of this nation. It threatens every one of us. Help us, Doctor, Evy. You're our only hope. Your friend is safe," she handed Evy a device, "This will take you to her. Now go, quickly!" she turned and walked away.

"Who are you?" the Doctor called after her, "How do we find you again?"

She paused, turning to face them, "I am Liz 10. And _I_ will find _you_."

There was a crashing sound and the lights flickered. When they looked back over, the woman was gone.

~8~

The Doctor and Evy ran through the ship, following the device the woman had given to Evy, till they ran around a corner and saw the little girl, Mandy, pacing outside a door that said 'occupied.'

Evy pulled out her sonic and flashed the door, forcing it open. They stepped in to see a recording of Amy on the screens set up before a chair, "Amy?" Evy asked slowly, concerned. Amy looked like she had been crying.

Amy quickly turned the screens off.

"What have you done?" the Doctor asked her.

"I…I don't know," she admitted, looking at the screens.

The Time Lords exchanged a glance before stepping into the room. The Doctor began sonicing the screens while Evy worked on the lamp above the chair.

"Your basic memory wipe," she sighed, "It's erased the last 20 minutes from Amy's mind," she jumped off the chair she'd stood on and down to the floor.

"But why would I choose to forget?" Amy frowned.

"'Cos everyone does," Mandy replied, "Everyone chooses the 'forget' button."

"Did you?" the Doctor asked.

"Probably not," Evy remarked, "She doesn't look old enough to vote yet does she?"

Mandy nodded, "I'm twelve. Any time after you're sixteen, you're allowed to the see the film and make your choice. And then, once every five years..."

"And once every five years, everyone chooses to forget what they've learned," the Doctor nodded, following along, "Democracy in action."

"How do you not know about this? Are you Scottish too?"

"Oh, we're way worse than Scottish. We can't even see the movie. Won't play for us."

"It played for me," Amy said.

"The difference being the computer doesn't accept us as human."

"Why not?"

"Aliens remember?" Evy smiled.

"You look human."

"No, you look Time Lord," the Doctor countered.

"We came first," Evy added.

"So there are other Time Lords, yeah?" Amy asked, excited at the idea.

"No," the Doctor swallowed hard.

"There were, but…" Evy trailed, thinking of her brother, "There aren't..."

"Just us now," the Doctor took her hand, squeezing it before turning to Amy, "Long story. There was a bad day. Bad stuff happened, and you know what?" he became serious, "We'd love to forget it all, every last bit of it, but we don't."

"Not _ever_ ," Evy breathed.

"'Cos _this_ is what we do, every time, every day, every second," the Doctor started to smile, "This. Hold tight. We're bringing down the government."

He pounded his fist onto the 'protest' button. The door slammed shut, leaving Mandy outside as the smiling robot in the booth in the back of the room turned its head to reveal a very angry face. Evy and the Doctor reached out and pulled Amy between them, leading her into the corner of the room as the floor began to slide open.

"Say, 'whee!'" the Doctor shouted.

Amy screamed as they fell down a chute.

They landed in a pile of chunks and liquid, the Doctor and Evy scrambling to their feet, trying not to slip as they flashed their sonics around, trying to find out where they were.

"High-speed air cannon," Evy commented, flashing the chute.

"Lousy way to travel," the Doctor shook his head.

"Where are we?" Amy asked.

"600 feet down, 20 miles laterally."

"The heart of the ship," Evy added.

"I'd say...Lancashire. What's this, then, a cave? Can't be a cave. Looks like a cave."

Amy grimaced as she picked herself up, "It's a rubbish dump, and it's minging!" she threw a piece of rubbish away.

"Yes, but only food refuse," the Doctor sniffed, "Organic, coming through feeder tubes from all over the ship."

"The floor's all squidgy," Amy remarked, kneeling and feeling the floor, "Like a water bed."

"But feeding what?" Evy shook her head.

"It's sort of rubbery, feel it. Wet and slimy."

There was a distant moaning from behind them. The Doctor and Evy spun to look towards it, realizing then _exactly_ where they were.

"Er...it's not a floor, it's a..." the Doctor began, putting away his sonic, "So..."

"It's a what?" Amy stood.

"The next word is kind of the scary word," he told her, trying to calm her down for the inevitable freak out, "Take a moment. Get yourself in a calm place," he put his hands on her shoulders, "Go 'omm.'"

"Omm," Amy frowned.

"It's a tongue," Evy told her quickly.

"A tongue?"

"A tongue," the Doctor said, actually getting very excited, "A great big _tongue_!"

"This is a mouth?" Amy looked around, stunned, "This whole place is a mouth? We're in a _mouth_?"

"Yes, yes, yes, but on the plus side, roomy."

"How do we get out?"

Evy flashed her sonic around, trying to find the nerve that would regurgitate them, as far as directions went, out the mouth was the better alternative.

The Doctor pulled out his sonic, flashing it around, "How big is this beastie? It's gorgeous! Blimey! If this is just the mouth, I'd love to see the stomach."

"Stop talking," Evy told him as there was a grunting noise.

"Though not right now!" he held up his hands, as though it was stop the noise.

"How do we get out?" Amy repeated.

"If it has to be fed through surgically implanted feeder tubes then the mouth must be..." Evy turned to see the row of sharp teeth, closed.

"Closed for business," the Doctor remarked.

"We can try, though," Amy stepped forward.

"No!" Evy shouted, "Amy don't move!"

The mouth heaved in agitation.

"Too late," the Doctor called, "It's started."

"What has?" Amy gasped.

"The swallow reflex," Evy answered.

The tongue moved beneath them, causing them to slip and fall backwards into the refuse. Evy began to sonic the mouth walls frantically.

"What are you doing?" Amy shouted.

"Trying to vibrate the chemo-receptors," she said.

"Chemo-what?"

"The eject button!" the Doctor realized, using his sonic to help her.

"How does a _mouth_ have an _eject button_?"

"Think about it!" he shouted.

There was a groaning noise now.

They struggled to get on their knees as a wave of bile rolled towards them, "Right, then," the Doctor managed to stand up, taking Evy's hand, "This isn't going to be big on dignity," he tugged his bow-tie, "Geronimo!"

Amy screamed as there was a grunt and a splash.

~8~

Amy came to moments later to see the Doctor and Evy examining a door at the end of a little hall.

"There's nothing broken, there's no sign of concussion, and, yes, you _are_ covered in sick," the Doctor said, answering all her questions before she could get them out.

"Where are we?" Amy looked around.

"Overspill pipe," Evy guessed.

"Oh, God, it stinks," she grimaced as she stood.

"That's not the pipe," he told her.

Amy sniffed herself, disgusted, "Whoo! Can we get out?"

"One door, one door switch, one condition," he said, stepping back to reveal a door with a 'forget' button on it, "We forget everything we saw. Look familiar? That's the carrot," a panel by Evy sparked as she flashed her sonic across it, lighting up their hall to reveal two smiling robots in booths behind them, "Ooh, here's the stick."

Evy walked over to the smilers, "Why is there a creature living in the heart of the ship?"

Their faces spun to show a mad sort of face.

The Doctor stepped up beside her, "No, that's not going to work on us, so come on. Big old beast below decks, and everyone who protests gets shoved down its throat. That how it works?"

The faces spun to anger.

"Oh, stop it. We're not leaving and we're not forgetting and what are you fellows going to do about it? Stick out your tongues?"

The booths opened and the two robots stepped out, walking towards them as they were forced to back away.

"You _really_ need to _stop_ talking," Evy told him as they neared the door in the back of the room, the smilers drawing nearer...

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, sort of a short chapter, so far this is the second shortest, so at least you know there's probably only 1 that's shorter :)
> 
> Just a note about Links, the Link is complicated. It can go in a number of directions, creating a platonic love that could develop as a friendship or sibling-like relationship, or push in the opposite direction towards a rivalry, or deeply connect two Time Lords that might lead to a romantic relationship. There will actually be a part of The Pandorica Opens where the Doctor talks about exactly what the Universe thinks the Link is and what they recognize it to be, it's...a bit more singular a definition than on Gallifrey, but we'll have to wait for that.
> 
> Also, I feel bad that Evy hasn't gotten much recognition, but she will soon be getting more. I've started, in the first two chapters, having the Doctor introduce Evy as his Link (he's definitely noticed that people don't know about her). This will continue throughout this entire series, and we all know word travels fast when it comes to the Doctor, so I imagine Evy will start to be noticed more and more.
> 
> Next chapter...the Doctor gets protective. Liz's outfit is quite familiar. Evy gives Amy a clue to save a gentle alien.


	4. The Beast Below (Part 2)

Suddenly the door opened behind them and the woman in the red cloak stepped in, this time without her mask, shooting the robots. She twirled her pistols before sticking them back in her holsters.

"Look who it is," the Doctor grinned.

"Nice to see you without the mask," Evy remarked.

"You must be Amy," the woman turned back to them, seeing Amy, "Liz. Liz 10."

"Hi," Amy shook her hand.

"Ergh!" Liz wiped her hand on her cloak, "Lovely hair, Amy. Shame about the sick," she headed for the door where Mandy was standing, "You know Mandy, yeah?" she put her arm around the girl, "She's very brave."

"How'd you know where we were?" Evy asked.

"Stuck my gizmo on you," Liz nodded at the Doctor, throwing him her own tracking device, "Been listening in," she nodded at Evy, "Nice moves on the hurl escape. So, what's the big fella doing here?"

"You're over 16, you've voted," the Doctor told her, "Whatever this is, you've chosen to forget about it."

"No. Never forgot, never voted. Not technically a British subject."

"Then who and what are you, and how do you know us?" he asked, his eyes narrowing at her as he stepped in front of Evy.

"Don't need to get all protective 'cos of me," Liz laughed as she eyed him, "You're a bit hard to miss. Mysterious strangers, MOs consistent with higher alien intelligence, hair of an idiot..." the Doctor pointed like he was about to argue but then ran his hand through his soaked hair instead, "And the beautiful woman who travels with him," she smiled at Evy, "You're a bit harder to pin down," she laughed, excited, "I've been brought up on the stories. My whole family was."

"Your family?" Evy asked, slowly piecing it together.

"They're repairing," Liz said, serious now as a robot began to move, "Doesn't take them long. Let's move," she rushed out of the room, the others following her into the lower corridors of the ship, "The Doctor and his lovely Link Evy. Old drinking buddy of Henry XII, poker buddy of Henry VIII. Tea and scones with Liz II, nemesis of Liz IV. Vicky was a bit on the fence about you though Doctor, weren't she? Knighted and exiled you on the same day," she laughed, "And so much for the Virgin Queen after Evy got you to introduce the famous Captain Jack to her court!"

"Liz 10?" the Doctor asked.

"Liz 10!" Evy realized.

"Liz 10, yeah, Elizabeth X," she said, spinning suddenly, "And down!" they ducked down quickly as she fired both her pistols at the smiling robots that had followed them, "I'm the bloody Queen, mate. Basically, I rule," she slipped her pistols into her holsters and grinned at Evy, "Like the outfit?" Evy nodded, "Fashioned after your style."

Evy laughed and shook her head as the Doctor helped her back up. Amy frowned, looking at Liz in her sleeveless black dress, leggings, and boots, to Evy's dark blue jeans tucked in brown boots, red shirt, and brown jacket.

"That's not your look," Amy frowned.

"My previous look," Evy told her, "Previous incarnation."

"Incarnation?" Amy shook her head, confused.

"It's a Time Lord thing," Liz explained, "When they get injured or come close to dying they heal by changing, basically into different people."

"You didn't always look like this?" Amy's eyes widened in shock.

"Tall, slim, brown hair, brown eyes, brown pinstripe suit, long brown coat," Evy nodded at the Doctor, "White trainers. Bit older."

"Taller, bit paler, black hair, blue eyes, sleeveless dress, leggings, motor boots, maroon velvet frock coat," the Doctor listed, his arm around Evy, smiling softly down at her, "Just as beautiful."

Evy blushed. This one was most certainly more affectionate.

Amy just looked stunned as Liz continued to lead them along to another corridor towards a lift, "There's a high-speed vator through there…" the Doctor and Evy stopped suddenly, looking over at a caged area where there were two sort of tentacle things sticking up the shaft, "Oh, yeah. There's these things. Any ideas?"

Evy stepped over to the shaft, just staring up at the tentacles. She glanced at the Doctor to see him looking pained before looking over at Amy and Liz who just stood there. God couldn't they hear it?

' _Above the frequency of human hearing,_ ' the Doctor mumbled to her.

' _It's horrible_ ,' she could feel tears in her eyes.

"I saw one of these up top," Amy commented, "There was a hole in the road, like it had burst through, like a root."

"Exactly like a root," the Doctor nodded.

Evy swallowed hard, "It's the creature we were inside, reaching out…" she reached out and placed her hand against the bars.

"It must be growing through the mechanisms of the entire ship."

"What?" Liz asked, "Like an infestation?"

"Someone's helping it. Feeding it."

"Feeding my subjects to it," she ground out, "Come on. We've got to keep moving," she stormed off, Mandy following after.

"Doctor?" Amy asked, watching them, concerned, "Evy?"

"Oh, Amy," the Doctor breathed as he took Evy's hand that fell away from the bars as the creature started banging against it, "We should never have come here," he pulled Evy to him, putting his arm around her in comfort as they walked off after Liz.

~8~

The Doctor walked carefully through a maze of water glasses on Liz's bedroom floor while Evy stood to the side of them and looked down.

"Why glasses of water?" Evy looked over at Liz.

"To remind me every single day that my government is up to something, and it's my duty to find out what," Liz replied, lying on her bed.

The Doctor walked over, picking up the white mask Liz had been wearing, "A queen going undercover to investigate her own kingdom?"

"Secrets are being kept from me. I don't have a choice. Ten years I've been at this, my entire reign, and you've achieved more in one afternoon."

Evy frowned, watching as the Doctor began to pace, still looking at the mask, "You were how old when you took the throne?" Evy asked.

"40. Why?"

"What, you're 50 now?" Amy asked, putting her now clean hair up and going to sit near Mandy on a chest at the foot of the bed, "No way!"

"Yeah, they slowed my body clock. Keeps me looking like the stamps."

"And you always wear this in public?" the Doctor asked, sitting on the side of the bed, holding the mask up.

"Undercover's not easy when you're me. The autographs, the bunting…"

Evy came over to stand next to the bed as the Doctor handed her the mask which she flashed with her sonic, "It's made of air-balanced porcelain…" she commented, turning it around in her hand.

"Stays on by itself, 'cos it's perfectly sculpted to your face," the Doctor said to Liz. He looked up as Evy stopped flashing it and just looked at it, realizing and confirming what he'd thought.

"Yeah," Liz shook her head, confused, "So what?"

"So everything," Evy breathed.

Suddenly the door to the room opened and four hooded men entered.

"What are you doing?" Liz demanded, outraged, "How _dare_ you come in here?"

"Ma'am, you have expressed interest in the interior workings of Starship UK," one of the hooded men said, "You will come with us now."

"Why would I do that?" she eyed him. His head spun to reveal an angry smiler face, "How can they be Smilers?"

"Genetic experimentation," Evy commented, "Half Smiler, half human."

"Whatever you creatures are, I am still your queen. On whose authority is this done?"

"The highest authority, Ma'am," it replied.

"I AM the highest authority."

"Yes, ma'am. You must go now, Ma'am."

"Where?"

"The Tower, Ma'am."

~8~

The Tower was a medieval style room, layered with technology. There were machines everywhere, grating on the floor through which could be seen more tentacles.

"Doctor, where are we?" Amy asked, looking around.

"The lowest point of Starship UK," he replied, spinning with his arms out, "The dungeon."

"Ma'am," a man with gray hair and glasses bowed to Liz.

"Hawthorne!" she exclaimed, "So _this_ is where you hid yourself away. I think you've got some explaining to do."

"Why are there children in the dungeon?" Evy turned to him, not at all pleased.

"Protesters and citizens of limited value are fed to the beast," Hawthorne replied, "For some reason, it won't eat the children. You're the first adults it's spared. You're very lucky."

"Yeah, look at us," the Doctor said, not at all happy, as he and Evy walked around, looking around, "Torture chamber of the Tower of London. Lucky, lucky, lucky. Except it's not a torture chamber, is it? Well, except it is. Except it isn't, depends on your angle."

Evy stood up from examining a control panel and walked around it to the Doctor's side.

"What's that?" Liz asked. They walked over to an open well in the middle of the floor with a railing around it, a pink lump moving inside it.

"Depending on the angle," Evy began, "It's the exposed pain center of the creature's brain, continuously being tortured..."

"Or?" Liz swallowed.

"Or it's the accelerator for the Starship UK," Evy glared at her.

"I don't understand," she shook her head, confused.

"Don't you?" the Doctor asked her, stepping towards her, "Try, go on. The spaceship that could never fly, no vibration on deck. This creature, this poor, trapped, terrified creature. It's not infesting you, it's not invading…it's what you have instead of an engine."

Evy looked around, eyeing a device set up above the creature's brain, "And this is where you people, your government, tortures it to keep it moving."

They watched as an intermittent electrical beam shot down from the devic, right into the creature's exposed brain.

"Tell you what," the Doctor strode over to another well and shifted the grating, "Normally, it's above the range of human hearing…" one of the tentacles broke free, "This is the sound none of you wanted to hear!" he held up the sonic, allowing everyone else in the room to hear the horrible screams of the creature that they had been hearing since they first stepped out of the TARDIS. Only now they _all_ knew what it was.

"Stop it," Liz called, turning to Hawthorne as the Doctor shut off his sonic, "Who did this?"

"We act on instructions from the highest authority," Hawthorne replied.

" _I_ am the highest authority. The creature will be released, now. I said now!" no one moved, "Is anyone listening to me?"

Evy and the Doctor exchanged a glance, he nodded and Evy stepped forward, still holding Liz's mask, "Liz…this mask of yours..."

"What about my mask?"

"Take a look," she handed it to her, "It's at least 200 years old."

"Yeah, it's an antique, so?" she shook her head, not following.

"An antique made by craftsmen over 200 years ago and yet it's somehow _perfectly_ sculpted to _your_ face?" Evy shook her head, "They did slow your body clock, but more than you know. You're not 50, you're nearer 300."

"It's been a long old reign," the Doctor commented.

"Nah, it's ten years," Liz insisted, "I've been on this throne ten years."

"Ten years. And the same ten years over and over again," he reached out and led her away, "Always leading you..." he pulled her to a voting area, "Here."

'Forget' or 'Abdicate.'

Liz turned to Hawthorne, horrified, "What have you done?"

"Only what you have ordered," he insisted, "We work for you, Ma'am. The Winders, the Smilers, all of us," he sighed and turned on a screen, playing a recording of Liz.

"If you are watching this..." the recording began, "If _I_ am watching this, then I have found my way to the Tower of London," Liz sat down to watch, "The creature you are looking at is called a Star Whale. Once, there were millions of them. They lived in the depths of space and, according to legend, guided the early space travelers through the asteroid belts. This one, as far as we are aware, is the last of its kind. And what we have done to it breaks my heart."

Evy took the Doctor's hand, squeezing it tightly as they all watched in silence.

"The Earth was burning. Our sun had turned on us, and every other nation had fled to the skies. Our children screamed as the skies grew hotter. And then it came, like a miracle. The last of the Star Whales. We trapped it, we built our ship around it, and we rode on its back to safety. If you wish our voyage to continue, then you must press the 'forget' button. Be again the heart of this nation, untainted. If not, press the other button. Your reign will end, the Star Whale will be released, and our ship will disintegrate. I hope I keep the strength to make the right decision."

The recording ended.

"I voted for this?" Amy breathed in disbelief, she looked over at Evy and the Doctor, "Why would I do that?"

"Because you knew if we stayed here, Evy and I would be faced with an impossible choice," the Doctor swallowed, "Humanity or the alien. You took it upon yourself to save us from that. And that was wrong.," he turned to look at her, his face hard, "You don't ever decide what we need to know."

"I don't even remember doing it!"

"You did it. That's what counts."

"I'm...I'm sorry…"

"Oh, I don't care," he cut off, nearly sneering, "When we're done here, you're going home," he turned and walked off, Evy going with him but not without a concerned look back at Amy.

"Why?" Amy called after them, "Because I made a mistake? _One_ mistake? I don't even remember doing it," she strode over to the Doctor, who was now examining the instrument panels by the control board Evy had seen before, "Doctor!"

"Yeah," he didn't look up at her, "I know. You're only human."

"What are you doing?" Liz asked quietly, watching the Doctor work while Evy looked over at Mandy who was sitting against a wall in the back.

"The worst thing I'll ever do," he said. Evy snapped out of her thoughts and took his hand, he took a breath, "I'm going to pass a massive electrical charge through the Star Whale's brain. Should knock out all its higher functions, leave it a vegetable. The ship will still fly, but the whale won't feel it."

"That'll be like killing it," Amy gasped.

"Look, three options," he looked up at Amy and Liz, "One: I let the Star Whale continue in unendurable agony for hundreds more years…and I _can't_ do that," he looked over at Evy, kissing the back of her hand, "I've _seen_ pain like that, I've seen what it's like, and no one deserves that for even a second," she smiled softly at him, tears in her eyes, knowing he was thinking back to when Donna had created the alternate reality and he'd been killed, leaving her to suffer with a severed Link. He took a breath, going on, "Two: I kill everyone on this ship. Three: I murder a beautiful, innocent creature as painlessly as I can. And then I find a new name, 'cos I won't be the Doctor anymore."

"There must be something we can do, some other way," Liz began.

"Nobody talk to me," he threatened before shouting at them, "Nobody _human_ has _anything_ to say to me _today_!"

Evy reached out and pulled him back, "Hey, hey, hey…" she soothed, turning him to face her, she took his hands in her own as Liz walked away, utterly devastated at what was happening, while Amy looked close to tears as she went to sit against the wall where Mandy was, "It'll be alright," she told him as other children started to enter the room.

Mandy must have seen someone as she jumped to her feet and ran over to them.

"How?" he asked her, sounding almost broken, "How can it be ok? It's…God, I don't want to do it."

"Then we won't. We'll find another way. There's _always_ another way," she could see it, the fourth option…

"Is there?" he looked down.

"You're rubbish at lists, you know that, there must be something we've missed," Evy glanced over his shoulder at Mandy and her friend, standing by the tentacles, petting it as it petted them in return. She looked over at Amy, her eyes on the girl as she spoke, "We'll find another way, because you're too _kind_ to do this to a creature _like you_. You couldn't stand to see anyone in pain, or _crying_ …you're just too kind…"

Amy frowned as Evy spoke before looking over at the children, seeing them playing with the Star Whale, before her gaze turned to the monitor where the recording had frozen, and then over at the children again, and finally from the Doctor to the whale…her eye widened in realization and she jumped to her feet, Evy smiling.

"Doctor, stop!" Amy shouted, running over to them, "Whatever you're gonna do, don't do it!" she ran over to Liz, grabbing her arm and pulling her to the voting booth, "Sorry, Your Majesty, going to need a hand."

"Amy, no!" the Doctor rushed over, "No!"

But Amy slammed Liz's hand down on the 'abdicate' button. The whale bellowed and the whole ship shook.

"Amy, what have you done?" the Doctor asked.

And then it calmed.

"Nothing at all," Amy smiled, "Am I right?"

"We've INCREASED speed!" Hawthorne gaped in shock.

"Yeah, well, you've stopped torturing the pilot. Gotta help."

"It's still here?" Liz frowned, "I don't understand."

The Doctor looked stunned as Evy came over to his side and took his hand in her own.

"The Star Whale didn't come like a miracle all those years ago," Amy told Liz, "It _volunteered_. You didn't have to trap it or torture it, that was all just you. It came because it couldn't stand to watch your children cry. What if you were really old, and really kind and alone? Your whole race dead, no future. What couldn't you do then? If you were that old, and that kind, and the very last of your kind..." she looked over at the Doctor, standing beside Evy who was smiling at her with pride, "You couldn't just stand there and watch children cry."

~8~

The Doctor was standing alone on the observation deck of the ship when Amy walked over to him, "From Her Majesty," she held out the mask, "She says there will be no more secrets on Starship UK."

"Amy, you could have killed everyone on this ship," he told her seriously.

"You could have killed a Star Whale."

"And you saved it," he smiled, facing her, "I know, I know."

"Amazing, though, don't you think? The Star Whale. All that pain and misery...and loneliness…" she looked sideways at him, "And it just made it kind."

"But you couldn't have known how it would react."

"YOU couldn't. But I've seen it before. Very old and very kind, and the very, very last. Sound a bit familiar?" she gave him a hug, "Hey."

"What?" he asked, pulling away.

"Gotcha," she smiled.

"Ha!" he nodded, "Gotcha," he looked up and saw something over Amy's shoulder, making his face light up, "Hey."

Amy turned to see Evy walking over to them, "Hey," she greeted as the Doctor slipped an arm around her waist.

"And where have you been?" he asked her.

"Communing with the Star Whale."

"Communing?" Amy asked, "What like talking?"

"More like projecting," Evy explained, "Our minds are very advanced, we can sort of pick up on telepathic brainwaves and such, and, with a lot of practice and focus, we can project out thoughts to others, sometimes even read them."

"And that's what you did with the whale?"

Evy nodded.

"And what did you tell him?" the Doctor asked.

"That I don't believe he's alone," she replied, looking up at the Doctor, "That he _can't_ be the last," she looked straight into his eyes, "No one is meant to be the last of their kind. There is ALWAYS another out there or the race is completely gone period. No survivors," she smiled, "I told him that, one day, I think he'll find a very nice girl Star Whale."

He just shook his head and laughed, "Then I'd have to agree."

He turned to leave, heading back to the TARDIS with Evy, but Amy reached out and grabbed her arm, pulling her back a bit to walk with her behind the Doctor. When she was sure the Doctor was far enough ahead not to hear she looked at the Time Lady, "You knew didn't you?" she asked, "That the Star Whale volunteered."

"Yes," Evy answered.

"But you didn't say anything."

"No."

"Why?"

"You felt like you failed the Doctor, like you needed to redeem yourself in his eyes," she shrugged, "I gave you the opportunity so you could."

Amy looked at her, eyes wide in thankfulness.

"Oi!" the Doctor called, motioning for them to hurry up, "Are you lot coming or not?"

Evy grinned, winking at Amy before jogging over to the Doctor who immediately wrapped an arm around her waist and kept walking.

Amy stood there a moment longer before smiling softly to herself and running after them into the market, "Shouldn't we say goodbye? Won't they wonder where we went?"

"For the rest of their lives," the Doctor said, "Oh, the songs they'll write! Never mind them. Big day tomorrow."

"Sorry, what?" Amy froze.

"Tomorrow's always a big day with the Doctor around," Evy replied, "Especially when you let him pilot the time machine," she reached out and opened the door to the TARDIS, leading them back in.

"You know what I said about getting back for tomorrow morning..." Amy began as they walked up to the console, "Have either of you ever run away from something because you were scared, or not ready, or just...just because you could?"

"Once..." the Doctor agreed, "A long time ago," he looked over at Evy, "Worst mistake I ever made."

"Oh you never know," Evy replied lightly, "If you'd stayed, things could have turned out differently than now…and not always in a good way."

"What happened?" Amy frowned, feeling like she was missing something but she just shook her head, seeing she was getting distracted from what she wanted to tell them, "Right. Doctor, Evy, there's something I haven't told you. No. Hang on, is that a phone ringing?"

And indeed there was.

"People phone you?" Amy looked at them in shock.

"Well, it _is_ a _phone_ box," Evy smiled as she went to put in some commands.

"Would you mind?" the Doctor nodded at the phone as he went to help Evy get the TARDIS ready to take off.

"Hello?" Amy answered the phone, "Sorry, who? No, seriously. Who?" she put the phone against her shoulder, "Says he's Prime Minister. First the Queen, now the Prime Minister. Get about, don't you?"

"Which Prime Minister?" Evy asked, pulling a lever.

"Er, which Prime Minister?" she asked, "The British one."

"Which British one?" the Doctor continued.

"Which British one?" she asked. Her eyes widened as she passed the phone to the Doctor, stunned, "Winston Churchill for you."

"Oh!" he grabbed the phone and held it up, "Hello, dear. What's up?"

"Tricky situation, Doctor," Winston replied, "Potentially very dangerous. I think I'm going to need you."

"Don't worry about a thing, Prime Minister," he replied, glancing at Evy as she put in some new coordinates, "We're on our way."

And they were off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, another pretty short chapter, just slightly longer than Part 1. This episode and Victory of the Daleks were the shortest ones in Series 5, so we only have 2 short-ish chapters which means we get the River chapters (full episode chapters) soon :)
> 
> Next chapter...how will Evy react to Daleks? We all know Winston didn't listen to the Doctor, will he listen to Evy?


	5. Victory of the Daleks (Part 1)

The TARDIS materialized in the storage room of the secret Cabinet War Rooms and, having such an occurrence in such a secret facility, soldiers immediately moved in.

The Doctor stuck his head out of the TARDIS and the soldiers aimed their guns at him until, that is, Winston Churchill himself stepped past them. The Doctor smiled, stepping out of the TARDIS completely, followed by Evy, "Amy..." he shouted before turning to hold his arms out at Winston, "Winston Churchill."

"Doctor?" Winston looked him up and down, "Is it you?"

Amy stepped out of the TARDIS and stared at the man in amazement.

"Oh, Winston, my old friend!" he laughed, going to shake Winston's hand, but Winston motioned with his own like he wanted something, "Ah, every time!"

"What's he after?" Amy asked.

"The key to the TARDIS," Evy smiled, well aware of Winston's efforts from the Doctor's memories.

"Think of what I could achieve with your remarkable machine, Doctor!" Winston argued, "The lives that could be saved!"

"Ah, doesn't work like that," the Doctor replied, closing the TARDIS door.

"Must I take it by force?" Winston threatened playfully.

"I'd like to see you try," the Doctor turned around and walked over to Evy, sliding his arm around her waist, "You'd have to get through Evy first."

"That reminds me, Doctor," Winston smiled, "Who are your two lovely companions?"

"Winston Churchill, Amy Pond," the Doctor introduced, nodding at Amy who could only wave, "And this…" he pulled Evy to him, "Is my Link, Evy Daniels," Winston nodded, looking between the red haired Amy and the blonde Evy, "Which reminds _me,_ " the Doctor looked over at the soldiers, "I'm not too comfortable with guns being pointed at my Link."

"Quite right," Winston nodded, turning to the soldiers, "At ease."

"Much better," the Doctor smiled, "You rang?"

Winston laughed and led them out of the room and through a corridor, the sounds of an air raid happening above them filtering down to them. The Doctor had somehow snatched Winston's cane from him, walking with it tucked under his one arm, his other around Evy.

"So you've changed your face, again," Winston remarked.

"Yeah, well, had a bit of work done," he shrugged, "Evy as well."

"Oh, she's like you then?" Winston glanced over at the pretty blonde, "Very nice."

"Got it, got it, got it!" Amy shouted, "Cabinet War Rooms, right?"

"The top secret War Office set up right under London," Evy nodded.

"You're late, by the way," Winston commented as a woman walked over to them with a clipboard and pen.

"Requisitions, sir," she said.

"Excellent," Winston went over the papers.

"Late?" the Doctor frowned.

"I rang you a month ago," Winston commented as he signed the papers.

"Really?" the Doctor frowned, "Sorry. Sorry, it's a Type 40 TARDIS. I'm just running her in."

Evy snorted. The Doctor had 'accidently' stopped by two time periods getting there, getting into all sorts of trouble on the way...well, he claimed they were accidents. He really needed to either let her pilot some times or at least let her show him how to properly fly the TARDIS. Perhaps that was why the box seemed to like her better, she didn't end up breaking the poor old girl half the time.

"Something the matter Breen?" Winston asked, handing the board back to the woman, "You look a little down in the dumps."

"No sir," she answered, hugging the clipboard, "Fine, sir."

"Action this day, Breen! Action this day!"

"Yes, sir," Breen nodded, forcing a smile, as she glanced at Amy and Evy before leaving.

"Excuse me, sir, got another formation coming in, Prime Minister," an officer called over, "Stukas, by the look of them."

"We shall go up top then, Group Captain!" Winston replied, "We'll give 'em what for! Coming, Doctor?"

"Why?" the Doctor asked.

Winston snatched back his cane, "I have something to show you and, I suppose, Miss Daniels as well."

"Just Evy," Evy smiled at the man, who nodded and turned to lead them off.

The Doctor turned to Evy, mouthing 'ooh' as Amy and Evy laughed. They followed him through the hall to the lift where Winston began puffing on his cigar, the Doctor waving the smoke away from him and Evy as Amy stood behind them.

"We stand at a crossroads, Doctor," Winston began, "Quite alone, with our backs to the wall. Invasion is expected daily. So I will grasp with both hands anything that will give us an advantage over the Nazi menace."

"Like what?" Evy asked, a bit on edge. Humans talking about last resorts and speaking with such desperation in their voices never led to anything good.

The lift stopped and Winston opened the gate, "Follow me."

They walked out onto a rooftop with sandbags lining the edge, a man in a white lab coat was watching the sky with binoculars.

"Wow!" Amy breathed, looking out onto the skyline of London, blimps and balloons tethered and waiting.

"Doctor, Evy, this is Professor Edwin Bracewell, head of our Ironsides Project," Winston introduced the man standing with the binoculars.

The Doctor just flashed him a 'V for Victory' sign.

"How d'you do?" Bracewell waved at them before resuming his vigil through the binoculars.

Evy looked out onto the sky to see a small line of German plans on the horizon, dropping bombs.

"Oh, Doctor...Evy, it's..." Amy shook her head.

"History in the making," Evy smiled at her stunned expression.

"Ready, Bracewell?" Winston called.

"Aye aye, sir," Bracewell gave a thumbs up, "On my order! Fire!"

From behind a sandbagged area, a laser shot out and fired at the German planes, destroying them instantly. Evy and the Doctor's smiles faded, Evy grabbing the Doctor's arm as her eyes widened, realizing what had made that beam.

"What was that?" Amy gasped.

"Nothing human," Evy swallowed, "That is _not_ human technology."

"That sounded like..." the Doctor trailed, not wanting to even finish the thought, "Show us!" he shouted as he and Evy ran towards a ladder to the top deck, "Show us what that was!"

They climbed the ladder coming to stand by Bracewell, "Advance!" Bracewell ordered.

"Our new secret weapon!" Winston called as a Dalek trundled out from behind the sandbags, painted in army green, a utility belt around it with a small Union Flag under its eyestalk. Evy and the Doctor could only look on, horrified, Evy's grip on the Doctor tightening as her mind raced to the last time they'd fought the Daleks, what had nearly happened, what they'd both nearly lost, "What do you think? Quite something, eh?"

"What are you doing here?" the Doctor demanded, stepping right up to the Dalek, moving himself in front of Evy as though to protect her.

And for once, Evy remained partially behind him, she knew that this was the Doctor's way of ensuring that he'd know she was safe. If she put herself beside him, he wouldn't be protecting her anymore, and if the Dalek attacked, he'd get distracted. She wasn't about to risk that. Not now, not till they knew what the Dalek was doing there, how it survived, what it was planning...

"I am your soldier," the Dalek replied.

"What?" Evy shook her head, it made no sense.

"I am your soldier."

"Stop this," the Doctor ordered, "Stop now! You know who I am, who we are, you _always_ know."

"Your identity is unknown."

"Perhaps I can clarify things here, this is one of my Ironsides," Bracewell stepped up.

"Your _what_?" Evy frowned.

Bracewell turned to the Dalek, "You will help the Allied cause in any way that you can?"

"Yes," the Dalek agreed.

"Until the Germans have been utterly smashed?"

"Yes."

"And what is your ultimate aim?"

"To win the war!"

~8~

The plans were all scattered out on the desk of Winston's office, diagrams, blueprints, photos, everything on how to build a Dalek.

"They're _Daleks_!" Evy tried telling Winston yet again, "They're called Daleks!"

"They are Bracewell's _Ironsides_!" the man shouted, "Look! Blueprints, statistics, field-tests, photographs. He _invented_ them!"

"Invented them?" the Doctor scoffed, "Oh, no, no, no!"

"Yes! He approached one of our brass hats a few months ago. Fella's a genius."

"A Scottish genius, too," Amy grinned, looking at the plans and pictures.

Evy frowned, looking at her, how was she so _calm_ when facing the thing that nearly destroyed the Earth two years ago?

Amy glanced at them, "Maybe you should listen to..."

"Shh!" the Doctor hissed, "He _didn't_ invent them!"

"They are _alien_ ," Evy insisted.

"Alien?" Winston raised an eyebrow.

Evy grabbed the Doctor's arm as a Dalek glided past the doorway, both of them tensing until it continued on.

"And totally hostile!" the Doctor added in a hissed whisper, now aware that the Daleks could be listening in.

"Precisely," Winston pounded his fist onto his desk, "They will win me the war!" he tossed a propaganda poster with a large Dalek on it over to show them before storming out of the room.

"Why won't you _listen_?" Evy asked him as they followed him out of the room.

"Why call us in if you won't listen to us?" the Doctor agreed.

"When I rang you a month ago, I must admit, I had my doubts," Winston began, "The Ironsides seemed too good to be true."

"Yes! Right! So destroy them! Exterminate them!"

"But imagine what I could do with a hundred! A thousand!"

"That's not something we need to _imagine_ ," Evy told him seriously, "We lived it. We saw it! We _know_ exactly what they are capable of, what they can do!"

"Amy tell him," the Doctor turned to her.

"Tell him what?" Amy frowned.

"About the Daleks!"

"What would _I_ know about the Daleks?"

"Everything. They invaded your world, remember? Planets in the sky, you don't forget that!"

"Amy..." Evy began, eyeing her carefully, "You _do_ remember the Daleks...don't you?"

"Nope, sorry," she shook her head.

The Doctor gaped at her, "That's not possible."

Amy just shrugged and continued on, following Winston into the Map Room.

"How does she not remember?" Evy breathed.

"I have no idea," the Doctor shook his head before taking Evy's hand, "But that will have to wait till we sort through this."

Evy nodded and they stepped into the Map Room as well to see a small group manning the radios and moving figures on the map as required.

"And 6...2357, over!" Breen called, "2357, over!"

A Dalek glided past them as they walked over to Amy, "They have to be up to something," Evy commented, eyeing the Dalek warily.

"But what is it?" the Doctor asked, "What are they after?"

Amy rolled her eyes at them, "Well, let's just ask, shall we?"

She strode right over to it, ignoring the Doctor's calls of, "Amy...Amelia!"

She tapped it on its casing and it swiveled to focus its eyestalk on her. Evy tensed.

"Can I be of assistance?" the Dalek asked.

"Oh," she nodded, "Yes. Yes! See, my friends reckon you're dangerous. That you're an alien. Is it true?"

"I am your soldier."

"Yeah. Got that bit. Love a squaddie. What else, though?"

"Please excuse me," the Dalek swiveled and continued on its way, "I have duties to perform."

The Doctor waited till it was out of the room before striding over to Winston, pulling the cigar from his mouth, "Winston, Winston, please..."

"We are waging total war, Doctor!" Winston exclaimed, "Day after day, the Luftwaffe pound this great city like an iron fist."

"And when the Daleks get started you'll think the Luftwaffe were using pillows and not fists!" Evy remarked.

"Men, women, and children slaughtered. Families torn apart. Wren's churches in flames."

"Yeah?" the Doctor scoffed, "Try the _Earth_ in flames!"

"And it _will_ fall to flames," Evy agreed, "Our planet was _destroyed_ because of them!"

"I weep for my country, I weep for my empire," Winston ignored her, moving around the table, "It is breaking my heart."

"But you're _resisting_ , Winston!" the Doctor followed him along with Evy, "The whole world _knows_ you're resisting! You're a beacon of _hope_."

"But for how long? Millions of innocent lives will be saved if I use these Ironsides now!"

"And billions of innocent lives will be destroyed if you use the Daleks!" Evy countered. Why wouldn't the man believe them? Was he that blinded by his need to win at any cost that he would resort to using _Daleks_? To ignoring their counsel?

"Can I be of assistance?" a Dalek stepped forward.

"Shut it!" Evy shouted at it, the Dalek acutally backing off some.

"Listen to us," the Doctor turned back to Winston, "Just _listen_! The Daleks have no conscience, no mercy, no pity. They are our oldest and deadliest enemy. You _cannot_ trust them!"

"If Hitler invaded hell, I would give a favorable reference to the Devil!" Winston snapped, "These machines are our _salvation_!" a siren sounded and Winston sighed, "Oh, the all-clear. We are safe. For now."

He turned and left, leaving the Doctor and Evy to stare at the Dalek before it too turned and left the room.

"It's the all-clear," Amy walked over to them, eyeing them with concern, "Are you ok?"

The Doctor twisted an officer's cap in his hands, "What does hate look like, Amy?"

"Hate?"

"Just like a Dalek," Evy answered.

"And we're going to prove it," the Doctor tossed the cap up before putting it on the desk and taking Evy's hand as he left the room as well, heading straight for the lab that created the damned Daleks here on Earth. This was like Lumis and the Cybermen all over again, how many more of their enemies would the humans create versions of on their own?

They stood in the doorway, watching as the man from before, Bracewell, worked at his desk, a few technicians working nearby. A Dalek glided up to him, "Would you care for some tea?"

"That would be very nice," Bracewell glanced at it, "Thank you."

That was enough watching for them. The Doctor strode through the door, immediately starting to check things out with Evy as Amy looked around at all the equipment.

"Alright, Prof!" the Doctor turned to him, "The PM's been filling us in. Amazing things, these Ironsides of yours. Amazing. You must be very proud of them."

"Just doing my bit," Bracewell said modestly.

Amy picked up a scanner, "Not bad for a Paisley boy."

Evy picked up a file and sat down on a chair, the Doctor standing beside her, his eyes still on the professor.

"Yes, I thought I detected a familiar cadence, my dear," Bracewell smiled at Amy.

"How did you come up with the idea for these...Ironsides?" Evy glanced up.

"How does the muse of invention come to anyone?"

' _So he has no idea then,_ ' Evy remarked silently to the Doctor.

"But you get a lot of these clever notions, do you?" the Doctor asked, eyeing him.

"Well, ideas just seem to teem from my head!" Bracewell smiled, "Wonderful things! Like...let me show you," Evy stood and walked over with the Doctor to where Bracewell had a few files lying about, "Some musings on the potential of hypersonic flight. Gravity bubbles that could sustain life outside of the terrestrial atmosphere! Came to me in the bath!"

"And these are your ideas or theirs?" Evy asked, this was all _far_ beyond the imagination for ANYONE of that time period to even begin to imagine let alone prove.

"No, no, no, no," Bracewell shook his head, "These robots are entirely under my control. They are..." a Dalek brought him his tea, "Thank you...the perfect servant and the perfect warrior."

"We don't know what you're up to, Professor," the Doctor glared at him, "But whatever they've promised, you cannot trust them! Call them what you like, the Daleks are death!"

"Yes, Doctor," Winston called, entering the room, followed by yet another Dalek, "Death to our enemies! Death to the forces of darkness, and death to the Third Reich!"

"Yes, Winston," Evy glared at the man, his pride would be the end of the Earth, "And death to everyone and everything else too!"

"Would you care for some tea?" a Dalek wheeled up to them, a tray balanced on its sucker arm.

The Doctor knocked the tray to the ground, "Stop this! What are you doing here? What do you want?"

"We seek only to help you."

"To help do what?" Evy asked.

"To win the war."

"Really?" the Doctor scoffed.

"Which war then?" Evy continued.

"I do not understand," the Dalek replied.

"This war, against the Nazis?" the Doctor explained, "Or your war? The war against the rest of the Universe? The war against all life-forms that are not Dalek?"

"I do not understand. I am your soldier."

"Oh, yeah?" he nearly sneered, turning to pick up a giant spanner, "Ok. Ok, soldier, defend yourself!" he started banning the spanner against the Dalek.

"Doctor, what the devil..." Winston demanded.

"You do not require tea?" the Dalek asked.

The Doctor's reply was another strike.

"Stop it!" Bracewell shouted, "Prime Minister, please!"

"Doctor, please, these machines are _precious_ ," Winston called.

"Come on!" the Doctor shouted, "Fight back! You want to, don't you? You know you do!"

"I must protest!" Bracewell called.

"What are you waiting for? You hate me. You hate us. You want to kill me. Well, go on! Kill me. Kill me!"

He went to hit it again when Evy pulled him back, this was becoming far too much like facing the Daleks in Hooverville.

"Please desist from striking me," the Dalek requested, "I am your soldier."

"You are our enemy!" he shouted, punctuating the words with hits before stumbling back, "And we are yours! You are everything we despise! The worst thing in all creation. We've defeated you time and time again, we've defeated you. I sent you back into the Void! Evy saved the whole of reality from you!" his face darkened as he whacked the Dalek again, "I nearly lost my Link forever because of you!"

Evy pulled him back once more, the Doctor was getting more and more worked up and yet the Dalek wasn't attacking or defending itself. It's prime mission was survival of the species, the only reason why it wouldn't attack would be if that very survival depended on the attacker, "Doctor wait…"

He breathed hard, glaring at it, "I am the Doctor! She is Evy! And you are the Daleks!"

With one fearsome kick he sent the Dalek rolling backwards, clear across the room.

"Correct," the Dalek stated, "Review testimony."

The Doctor's voice filled the room, 'I am the Doctor! She is Evy! And you are the Daleks!'

"Testimony?" he shook his head, "What are you talking about, 'testimony?'"

"Transmitting testimony now," a second Dalek stated.

"Transmit what, where?"

"That's what they wanted all along…" Evy breathed, her eyes wide, "They _wanted_ you to say they were Daleks!"

"Why?" he looked at her.

"I don't know," she shook her head, watching the Daleks helplessly.

"Testimony accepted!" the second Dalek announced.

"Get back! All of you! Quickly!"

"Marines!" Winston called, "Marines! Get in here!"

Two marines entered the room and one of the Daleks killed them both in an instant.

"Stop it!" Bracewell shouted, "Stop it, please! What are you doing? You are my Ironsides!"

"We are the Daleks!" the first Dalek exclaimed.

"But I created you!"

"No," the Dalek shot Bracewell's hand, revealing a stump of wires and metal, " _We_ created _you_!"

"Victory!" the Daleks shouted at once, "Victory! Victory!"

And then they disappeared, teleporting out.

"What just happened?" Amy asked, looking between Evy and the Doctor.

"We wanted to know what they wanted, what their plan was," the Doctor breathed, " _I_ was their plan!"

He ran out of the room with Evy, Amy following along, "Hey!"

They ran over to the TARDIS, "'Testimony accepted!'" the Doctor muttered to himself, "That's what they said! My testimony."

"Don't beat yourself up," Amy said, catching up, "You were right," Evy quickly ran a finger along the lock of the TARDIS doors, unlocking them, "What do we do? Is this what we do now? Chase after them?"

"This is what _we_ do," the Doctor shook his head at her, "It's dangerous, so wait here."

"What, so you mean I've got to stay safe down here in the middle of the London Blitz?" Amy demanded as Winston walked up.

"Safe as it gets around us," the Doctor told her, heading into the TARDIS.

"Trust us Amy, the Blitz is nothing compared to the Daleks at war," Evy told her serious. She headed into the TARDIS, only to pop out a moment later, "Keep an eye on the professor yeah?"

And then the door shut and the TARDIS was gone...

"Have you got it?" Evy called, running up to the console and over to the Doctor's side where he had brought up the Dalek ship on the monitor.

"Bingo!" he called.

They ran around, putting in the coordinates, and all too soon they were on the Dalek ship. They half ran out of the doors to see three Daleks swivel to face them.

"How about that cuppa now, then?" the Doctor asked, grinning, as he rubbed his hands together.

"It is the Doctor and his Link!" a Dalek shouted, "Exterminate!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...I got a PM once with an interesting question, what would the theme music for Evy (and the Professor) be? I hadn't thought of that but I spent weeks going through my iTunes, deciding between lyric songs or trailer music, sorting through them and picking songs that sounded like they could fit with DW, then dividing them between Evy and the Professor and their three incarnations, and then finally picking that one song that fit with what incarnation. I've finally got it, after listening to over 1,000 songs...
> 
> 9th Professor - Rising from the Ashes by Audiomachine  
> 10th Professor - Lachrimae by Audiomachine  
> 11th Professor - Evolution by Audiomachine
> 
> 9th Evy - Love and Loss by Two Steps From Hell  
> 10th Evy - Heart of Courage by Two Steps From Hell  
> 11th Evy - Magika by Two Steps From Hell
> 
> It was a complete accident that each character ended up with songs from only one source (Audiomachine or Two Steps From Hell), I guess it just fit with the style. All these songs should be on youtube somewhere if you want to listen. I hope you enjoy!
> 
> Next chapter...what does Evy think of the Doctor's Jammie Dodger plan? Will there be a clever code name for both the Doctor and Evy? Will Evy have a hand in saving Bracewell?


	6. Victory of the Daleks (Part 2)

"Wait, wait, wait, I wouldn't if I were you!" the Doctor quickly pulled out a small, round, yellow object with a red center, holding it in front of him.

' _I can't believe I'm about to go along with this…_ ' Evy commented to him before saying out loud, "That is a TARDIS self-destruct. You try anything, he presses it. If the TARDIS goes, you go with it."

"You would not use such a device," the second Dalek stated.

"Try us," the Doctor threatened. The first Dalek moved forward, "Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah. No scans! No nothing! One move and I'll destroy us all, you got that? TARDIS bang-bang, Daleks boom!" the Dalek moved back, "Good boy."

"Look at the state of this ship," Evy commented, looking at the control panels behind them, all rusted, partially broken, "At the end of its rope just like you, just like the last time we met. We destroyed you."

"One ship survived," the second Dalek informed them.

"And you fell back through time, yes?" the Doctor nodded, "Crippled? Dying?"

"We picked up a trace. One of the Progenitor devices."

"Progenitor?" Evy frowned, "What's that?"

"It is our past. And our future."

"Oh, that's deep," the Doctor looked over at Evy who nodded, "That is deep for a Dalek. What does it mean, though?"

"It contains pure Dalek DNA, thousands were created, all were lost, save one," the third Dalek spoke.

"But why build Bracewell if you've got a Progenitor?" Evy asked.

"It was...necessary," the second Dalek admitted.

"But why?" the Doctor frowned, before nodding, "I get it. Oh, I get it! I get it. Oh, ho, this is rich! The Progenitor wouldn't recognize you, would it? It saw you as impure, the DNA is unrecognizable as Dalek."

"A solution was devised."

"Yes, yes, yes. Me. My testimony. So you set a trap, you knew that the Progenitor would recognize me or Evy, my Link. The Daleks' greatest enemies! It would accept our word. Our recognition of you."

The second Dalek turned to an instrument panel behind it, "What are you doing?" Evy demanded as the Doctor held out the button again.

"Withdraw now, Doctor, or the city dies in flames," the third Dalek threatened.

"Who are you kidding?" the Doctor scoffed, "This ship is a wreck, you don't have the power to destroy London."

"Watch as the humans destroy themselves," the second Dalek announced, sticking his sucker at the panel, turning it on.

"Luminescent Override," Evy breathed, "They've turned on the lights in London!"

"Turn those lights off now," the Doctor demanded, "Turn London off or I swear we will use the TARDIS self-destruct!"

"Stalemate, Doctor," the second Dalek replied, "Leave us and return to Earth."

"Oh, that's it? _That's_ your great victory? You leave?"

"Extinction is not an option. We shall return to our own time and begin again."

"We're not about to let you get away, not this time!" Evy shouted, "We won't!"

There was a whoosh and then a soft thrumming sound.

"We have succeeded, DNA reconstruction is complete," the third Dalek announced.

The Daleks rolled back from a set of doors, now glowing with a red energy. The doors slide open, sparking.

"Observe, Doctor and Evy, a new Dalek paradigm!" the second Dalek cried.

The Doctor and Evy could only watch in horror as new, larger, more deadly Daleks emerged from the smoke and steam, white, blue, yellow, orange, and red.

"The Progenitor has fulfilled our new destiny," the second Dalek cheered, "Behold, the restoration of the Daleks! The resurrection of the master race!"

"All hail the new Daleks!" the first Dalek cried, "All hail the new Daleks!"

"Yes, you are inferior!" the white Dalek announced, its voice more menacing.

"Yes."

"Then prepare."

"We are ready!" the three Daleks stated.

"Cleanse the unclean! Total obliteration! Disintegrate!"

The blue Dalek and the red Dalek fired on the three older Daleks, destroying them.

"Blimey, what do you do to the ones who mess up?" the Doctor breathed, stunned.

"You are the Doctor and Evy!" the white Dalek turned back to them, "You must be exterminated!"

He quickly pulled Evy behind him, holding up the self-destruct key, "Don't mess with me sweetheart!" he glared at them.

Evy put a hand on his arm, stepping out from behind him to stand next to him, relatively safe...at least until the Daleks worked out _exactly_ what the destruct key was. He glanced over at her, sending her a soft smile before turning to face their enemy once again.

"We are the paradigm of a new Dalek race," the white Dalek replied, "Scientist, Strategist, Drone, Eternal, and the Supreme."

"And thats you, I suppose?" Evy glared at the white Dalek.

"Well, you know, nice paint job," the Doctor commented, "We'd be feeling pretty swish if we looked like you. Pretty 'Supre-eme.'"

Evy rolled her eyes at him, not about to give him a smack while facing the Daleks, "But now we have to decide what to do now?"

"Either you turn off your clever machine or we'll blow you and your new paradigm into eternity."

"And yourself," the white Dalek reminded him, "As well as your Link."

He tensed, but Evy grabbed his hand, "Then we all go together."

"Occupational hazard," he agreed, a bit more reassured.

"Scan reveals nothing!" the blue Dalek cried, "TARDIS self-destruct device non-existent!"

"Alright," the Doctor bit into the 'key' revealing it to a cookie, "It's a Jammie Dodger, but we were promised tea!"

A siren sounded and the blue Dalek went to the scanner, "Alert! Unidentified projectile approaching!" the Doctor and Evy looked at a second scanner, "Correction. Multiple projectiles!"

Evy grinned as she saw the blips on the map, "Oh you brilliant humans!"

"What have the humans done?" the white Dalek demanded.

"We don't know," the Doctor replied, a grin on his face as well.

"Explain! Explain! Explain!"

"Danny Boy to the Doctor Eve!" a pilot's voice came over the speakers.

"Doctor Eve?" Evy laughed, recalling when the Ood called her that.

"Danny Boy to the Doctor Eve! Are you receiving me? Over."

"Oh, Winston!" the Doctor shouted, looking up, "You beauty!"

Fighter planes had been sent up to attack the Dalek ship.

"Danny Boy to the Doctor Eve! Come in. Over."

"Loud and clear, Danny Boy!" Evy shouted.

"Big dish, side of the ship, blow it up!" the Doctor continued, "Over!"

"Exterminate the Doctor and his Link!" the white Dalek ordered.

The Doctor grabbed Evy's hand and they ran to the TARDIS as the Daleks opened fire, just barely missing them. They slammed the door shut behind them, leaning against it a moment to catch their breath.

"Far too close for comfort," Evy remarked, before pulling the Doctor in for a quick kiss and running over to the console with him.

They pulled up the transmission on the TARDIS radio, listening as the pilots attacked, but were thwarted by the protective shields around the dish, two were gone.

"Danny Boy to the Doctor Eve...only me left now. Anything you can do? Over."

Evy and the Doctor looked at each other a moment before Evy nodded and ran to the other side of the console, preparing commands, as the Doctor contacted the pilot, "The Doctor Eve to Danny Boy..." he called into a small microphone, "The Doctor Eve to Danny Boy. We can disrupt the Dalek shields, but not for long. Over."

"Good show, Doctor Eve, go to it. Over."

"Already on it," the Doctor nodded at Evy.

"Going in, wish me luck," the pilot replied, "Over. "

Evy pulled down a lever and they could hear a soft hum from the Dalek ship fade. The shield was gone.

"Direct hit!" the pilot called back, "It's gone!"

"Yes!" the Doctor laughed, hugging Evy as he spun her around, kissing her firmly.

"Danny Boy to the Doctor Eve...going in for another attack."

"The Doctor Eve to Danny Boy," the Doctor picked up the microphone, "The Doctor Eve to Danny Boy. Destroy this ship! Over."

"What about you, Doctor Eve?"

"We'll be ok," the Doctor smiled as he and Evy got to work getting the TARDIS ready to disappear.

Suddenly the white Dalek appeared, projecting a screen on the wall.

"Doctor and Evy!" it called, "Call off your attack!"

"Ah ha, what?" the Doctor laughed, "And let you scuttle off back to the future? No fear. This is the end for you. The final end!"

"Call off the attack, or we will destroy the Earth."

"We're not stupid, mate! You've just played your last card!"

"Bracewell is a bomb."

"You're bluffing," Evy glared at them, "Deception's second nature to you."

"There isn't a sincere bone in your body," the Doctor agreed, "There isn't a bone in your body!"

"His power is derived from an Oblivion Continuum!" the white Dalek continued, "Call off your attack, or we will detonate the android."

"No!" the Doctor shouted as Evy stiffened, "This is our best chance ever! The last of the Daleks! We can rid the Universe of you, once and for all!"

"Then do it. But we will shatter the planet below! The Earth will die screaming!"

"And if we let you go, you'll be stronger than ever. A new race of Daleks."

"Then choose! Destroy the Daleks or save the Earth. Begin countdown of Oblivion Continuum! Choose! Choose! Choose!"

The Doctor looked at Evy who could only take a breath and shake her head, "We'll find them again, and we'll stop them for good, but not today. We _can't_ lose another planet to flames because of them."

He nodded slowly, picking up the microphone, "The Doctor Eve to Danny Boy. The Doctor Eve to Danny Boy. Withdraw."

"Say again, sir," the pilot called, "Over."

"Withdraw! Return to Earth. Over and out."

"But sir..."

"There's no time, you have to return to Earth now! Over!"

He looked over at Evy who flipped a lever, the TARDIS disappeared from the ship and reappeared in the storage room as it had before.

"They're going to detonate him anyway," he said grimly.

"Then we stop it," Evy said.

The TARDIS landed and they were off, running through the corridors, back to the Map Room.

The Doctor ran straight at Bracewell, knocking him to the ground with a swift uppercut. He shook his hand in pain as Evy knelt by Bracewell's side.

"Doctor!" Amy cried, appalled.

"Ow!" he shook his hand once more, "Sorry, Professor. You're a bomb! An inconceivably massive Dalek bomb."

"What?" Bracewell gasped.

"There's a thing called an Oblivion Continuum inside you," Evy told him gently, pulling out her sonic and flashing it against his chest, "It's a captured wormhole that can provide perpetual power. If it detonates then the Earth will bleed through into another dimension."

Bracewell's skin moved away to reveal a solid metal chest beneath it with a circular pad in the center, divided into five sections, glowing blue…one starting to turn yellow.

"Now keep down!" the Doctor shouted as he knelt on the other side of Bracewell.

"Well?" Amy asked as they knelt over him.

"We dunno, we dunno, we dunno!" he shook his head, "Never seen one up close before!"

"So, what, they've wired him up to detonate?"

"Not wired him up! He is a bomb. Walking, talking…" he made an exploding sound effect, "Exploding! The moment that flashes red."

"There's...a blue wire or something you have to cut, isn't there? There's always a blue wire. Or a red one."

"That's not really helping Amy…" Evy muttered as she looked down at the chest, the panel glowing red now.

"It's incredible," Winston shook his head, "He talked to us about his memories. The Great War..."

"Someone else's stolen thoughts, implanted in a positronic brain," the Doctor muttered.

"Tell us Edwin," Evy took Bracewell's hand, "Tell us about your life."

"I really don't think this is the time!" Bracewell commented.

"Tell us and prove you're human," the Doctor said, seeing Evy's plan, "Tell us everything."

The second panel began turning yellow, darkening quickly.

"My family ran the Post Office," Bracewell began, "It's a little place just near the abbey. Just by the ash trees. There used to be eight trees but...but there was a storm."

"And your parents? Come on! Tell us!"

"Good people. Kind people. They...they died. Scarlet fever."

"What was that like? How did it feel?"

"Please..." Bracewell begged, not wanting to remember it.

"How did it make you feel, Edwin? Tell us! Tell us now!"

"It hurt," he gasped, "It hurts, Doctor, so badly. Like a wound…" the second panel turned red, the third turning yellow, "It was worse than a wound. Like I'd been emptied out. There was nothing."

"Good," the Doctor nodded, "Remember it now, Edwin! The ash trees by the Post Office and your mum and dad and losing them and men in the trenches you saw die...remember it! Feel it, because you're _human_ …" the third panel turned red, "You're _not_ like them. You are not like the Daleks!"

"It hurts!" Bracewell wept, "Doctor, it hurts so much!"

"Good! Good! Good! Brilliant! Embrace it…" the fourth turned red, "That means you're alive! They cannot explode that bomb, you're a human being! You are flesh and blood! They cannot explode that bomb! Believe it! You are Professor Edwin Bracewell! And you, my friend, are a human being!" the fifth section started to darken, "It's not working…" the Doctor breathed, "I can't stop it!"

"But it's hurting him!" Amy cried.

"Hurt…" Evy blinked and turned to Bracewell, "Edwin, Edwin, look at me…" he lulled his head to look at her, tears in his eyes. She smiled sadly at him, taking a breath, "Have you ever loved someone? Loved them _so much_ that it hurt?"

"W...what?" Bracewell frowned.

The last panel froze.

"You know," Eve glanced at the Doctor a moment before looking back down, "Ever _really loved_ someone so much you'd do _anything_ for them…no matter if it hurt you. Just want to be around them, even if they don't know you're there, even if they don't really _notice_ you. You just…want to see them smile?"

Bracewell gave a small smile, "I really shouldn't talk about her," the last section turned blue.

"What was her name?" the Doctor asked, reaching out and taking Evy's free hand.

"Dorabella," Bracewell breathed. The fourth section powered down.

"Dorabella? It's a lovely name, it's a beautiful name."

"What was she like?" Evy asked.

The smile was full blown now as the third panel powered down, "Oh...such a smile. And her eyes...her eyes were so blue...almost violet…" the second panel was down, "Like the last touch of sunset on the edge of the world...Dorabella…" and the last.

The bomb was disabled.

The Doctor grinned widely, "Welcome to the human race!" he looked over at Winston, "You're brilliant…" and to Amy, "And you're brilliant…" and to Bracewell, "And you're brilliant..." and then to Evy, "And you…" he trailed, unable to find the words, "That was just…"

"A bit of Donna's humanity peeking through," Evy shrugged, looking away.

The Doctor reached out and lifted her chin to look at him, "A bit of your hearts shining through I think."

She smiled, before realizing something, "The Daleks!"

"Right!" the Doctor jumped to his feet, pulling Evy up, "Gotta stop the Daleks!"

They ran towards the door when Bracewell called out, "Wait! Evy! Doctor! Wait...wait…" they looked over as Bracewell sat up , "It's too late…gone. They've gone."

"No, no, no! They can't! They can't have got away from us again!"

"No, I can feel it, my mind is clear. The Daleks have gone."

The Doctor fell against a pole, shoulders slumping at the knowledge that he'd lost them. Evy dropped he head onto his shoulder.

"It's ok!" Amy grinned at them, "You did it. You stopped the bomb. Evy? Doctor?"

"We had a choice," the Doctor shook his head, "And they _knew_ we'd choose the Earth. The Daleks have won. They beat us. They've _won_."

"No…they didn't," Evy said quietly. He looked down at her, "We're still alive," she smiled at him, "And if we _had_ let them destroy the Earth, we would be no better than them… _that's_ when we _truly_ would have _lost_."

He kissed her forehead, she was brilliant.

"And you saved the Earth," Amy smiled, "Not too shabby, is it?" the Doctor looked at all the people standing in the room, smiling at them, "Is it?"

"No…" he smiled as well, "It's not too shabby."

"It's a brilliant achievement, my dear friend," Winston stepped up, "Here, have a cigar!"

The Doctor just waved him off, smiling as he wove his arms around Evy.

~8~

"Where're Evy and the Doctor?" Amy asked as the two aliens in question walked into the Map Room from cleaning out Bracewell's laboratory.

"Tying up loose ends," the Doctor called, "We've taken out all the alien tech Bracewell put in."

"Won't you reconsider, Doctor?" Winston turned to them, "Evy? Those Spitfires would win me the war in 24 hours!"

"Exactly," the Doctor picked up a tea cup and sipped some…only to spit it back into the cup.

"But why not? Why can't we put an end to all this misery?"

"You know it doesn't work like that, Winston," Evy said gently, "It _will_ be tough. The days to come...they'll be terrible, the darkest. But you _can_ do it. All on your own."

"Stay with us, and help us win through! The world needs you."

"The world doesn't need us," the Doctor waved him off.

"No?"

"The world's got Winston Spencer Churchill!" he cried, making a Victory sign.

"It's been a pleasure, as always," Winston smiled.

"Too right," the Doctor agreed, hugging the man who subtly reached into the Doctor's pocket.

Evy smirked, glancing at Amy who was smiling as well…the Doctor was so oblivious.

"Goodbye, Doctor," Winston said.

"Oh, shall we say adieu?" he laughed, pulling away.

"Indeed," Winston nodded, turning to Evy, "Evy," he nodded and then to Amy, "Goodbye, Miss Pond."

"It's…it's been amazing," Amy smiled, "Meeting you."

"I'm sure it has!" Winston agreed as Amy kissed him on his cheek. He turned and headed for the door.

Amy glanced at Evy who held up a finger behind the Doctor's back, waiting till he raised his glass before signaling Amy, "Oi, Churchill!" she called, holding out her hand expectantly, "TARDIS key. The one you just took from the Doctor."

The Doctor nearly choked on his tea and began patting his pockets as Evy patted his back, laughing.

"Oh, she's good, Doctor," Winston laughed, handing her the key, "As sharp as a pin! Almost as sharp as me!" he lit his cigar, "KBO!"

As soon as Winston left the room the Doctor held out his hand for Amy who reluctantly gave him the key back.

~8~

Bracewell was standing stoically in his office as the Doctor, Amy, and Evy entered. A leather glove over his hand, Evy had created a robotic hand for him to use to replace the one he'd lost. It didn't look human, but it was hidden well enough, he'd have to wear a glove over it in public though.

"I've been expecting you, Doctor, Evy," Bracewell sighed, turning to face them, "I knew this moment had to come."

"Moment?" the Doctor frowned.

"It's time to deactivate me."

"Is it..." the Doctor looked over at Amy and Evy who gave him a look, "Oh...yeah."

"You have no choice. I'm Dalek technology. Can't allow me to go pottering around down here where I have no business."

"No, you're dead right, Professor. 100 percent right. And by the time we get back here in...what, ten minutes?"

"More like 15," Amy corrected.

"I'd go with 20," Evy suggested.

"15 to 20 minutes, yeah, that's exactly what we're going to do," the Doctor nodded, "You are going to be so deactivated. It's going be like you've never even been...activated."

"Yeah," Amy agreed as Evy nodded her head.

"15 to 20 minutes?" Bracewell frowned.

"More like 25, if we're honest," the Doctor said, "Once Evy, Pond, and I see to the urgent thing…"

"Yes!" Amy exclaimed.

"…we've got to see to," the Doctor tried to piece together, "The...the...see?"

"Very well," Bracewell took a breath, "I shall wait here and prepare myself."

"That Dalek tech's a little bit slow on the uptake," Amy commented to them quietly.

"That thing we've got to do," Evy began, "It'll actually take about...half an hour?" she glanced at the Doctor.

"Easily!" he agreed, "So no running off, that's what we're saying."

"Don't look for that little Post Office and the ash trees," Evy nodded.

"Or that girl...what was her name?"

"Dorabella," Bracewell said slowly.

"Dorabella. On no account go looking for her. Mind you, you can get a lot done in half an hour."

Bracewell smiled and laughed, finally catching on, "Thank you, thank you!"

The Doctor smiled, taking Evy's hand and heading out, "Come along, Pond!"

Evy laughed as she glanced back to see Bracewell starting to pack a suitcase as they made their way back to the TARDIS.

"So, you have enemies then?" Amy asked them.

"Doesn't everyone?" Evy replied.

"Yeah, but mine's the woman outside Budgens with the mental Jack Russell. You've got, like, you know, archenemies."

They leaned against the TARDIS, the Doctor pulling Evy into his arms, her back against him, "Suppose so," he shrugged.

"And here's me thinking we'd just be running through time, being daft, and fixing stuff. But no, it's dangerous."

"Yup. Very. Is that a problem?"

"I'm still here, aren't I?" she smiled, "You're worried about the Daleks."

"We're always worried about the Daleks," Evy replied.

"It'll take time, though, won't it? There's still not many of them. They'll need a while to build themselves up."

"That's not it…"

"There's something else," the Doctor agreed, "Something we've forgotten. Or rather you have."

"Me?" Amy asked.

"You didn't know them, Amy," Evy told her, "You'd never seen them before."

"And you should have done," the Doctor said, "You should."

He turned and opened the TARDIS, heading in with Evy, leaving a confused Amy to follow after.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have to say, Victory of the Daleks wasn't my favorite episode, but I'm really excited about the next two chapters. At first, River wasn't my favorite character, she just...rubbed me the wrong way. She sort of kind of grew on me a little, but I still feel like Moffat is trying too hard to get 'his' character to work and fit in the show, like the only episodes he seems to write anymore involve River. I also am not a fan of the whole 'Wedding' for many reasons, so I'm not a River/Doctor shipper. BUT! Since the Lunar Cycle (and Academic Series) are Doctor/OC, I get to take that aspect of the show out of the stories and shift the Doctor/River dynamic. I'm actually excited to put River in now and the chapters that involve her have become some of my favorites. It might be that there's still a mystery around who she is to the Time Lords (in the stories) and that I know what it is that is making them my favorites. Idk, but I really did love writing the Weeping Angel chapters, especially Flesh and Stone, I got chills writing the Doctor (not saying why though).
> 
> And yay! We are done with the short chapters. All chapters from here on out for Series 5 are more than 5,000 words. Woo!
> 
> Next chapter...Evy's got quite a few tricks up her sleeve when it comes to the Doctor, some of which River seems to know somehow. The Doctor misses something from 1969. Amy's not the only one to get trapped with the Angel. Amy learns about a certain connection our favorite Time Lords share.


	7. The Time of Angels

The Doctor was striding through a medieval themed museum, pointing at random displays as Evy laughed and walked beside him, dressed in a tan coat and pants with a black shirt and black knee high boots. Amy was following along, a bit annoyed. She'd been hoping for a planet, not a museum trip.

"Wrong!" he pointed to a random object, "Wrong!"

"That one's right," Evy commented, looking at something in a display, "No, sorry, I take it back, wrong as well."

The Doctor laughed, "I love museums!"

"Yeah, great," Amy rolled her eyes, "Can we go to a planet now? Big spaceship, Churchill's bunker...you promised me a planet next."

"Amy, this isn't just some old, stuffy asteroid," Evy smiled and turned to link arms with the ginger, "It's the Delerium Archive."

"The final resting place of the Headless Monks, the biggest museum ever," the Doctor added, running around like a child in a sweet shop.

"You've got a _time machine_ ," Amy remarked, "What do you need museums for?"

"Wrong!" he shouted at another display, "Very wrong!" he ran over to a small display in the middle of the room, seeing what looked like miniatures, "Ooh, one of mine. And there's one of yours Evy," he smiled up at her before looking closely at the figures.

"Oh, I see. It's how you keep score."

Evy laughed, "It's _exactly_ how he keeps score," she looked around the room, her smile fading as she caught sight of something in the next display case, "Doctor…" she said, slowly walking over to it.

He looked up, seeing her staring at an antique box in a display. He walked over, his eyes widening when he saw the symbols covering the box.

"Oh great, an old box," Amy sighed, looking down at it as well.

"It's the Home Box from an old star liner," Evy commented, eyeing it closely through the glass.

"What's a Home Box?"

"Like a black box on a plane, except it homes," the Doctor explained, "Anything happens to the ship, the Home Box flies home, with all the flight data."

"So?" Amy shook her head, not seeing what was so great about this one.

"The writing, those symbols," Evy breathed, looking down fondly at them, "Are Old High Gallifreyan. The lost language of our people."

"Lost?"

"Like Latin or Greek for humans," she explained quickly.

"There were days, there were many days, these words could burn stars and raise up empires, and topple gods," the Doctor said seriously.

"What does it say?" Amy asked, excited.

Evy smirked, nudging the Doctor, "Hello, sweetie," she laughed but then saw the look on his face, "Oh no…don't!"

But it was too late.

He whipped out his sonic and flashed the lock on the glass, lifting the top layer and pulling the box out as alarms began to blare. He dropped the glass back down and turned to run, pulling Evy along with him as they raced through the museum and back to the TARDIS, managing to get in it just before the guards reached them. Evy went to the console, flipping a lever to get them into the Vortex while the Doctor went to hook up the box.

"Why are we doing this?" Amy asked as Evy came around to stand beside the Doctor.

"'Cos someone on a spaceship 12,000 years ago is trying to attract our attention," the Doctor replied, fixing the last wire, "Let's see if we can get the security playback working."

A grainy black and white image began to play. The Doctor and Evy watched as a slightly younger River Song appeared on the monitor. She pulled down her sunglasses and winked at them before the image shifted to River with her back to them, standing at an airlock door.

"The party's over, Dr. Song…" a man said, the top of his head just barely appearing at the bottom of the screen, "...yet still you're on board."

River turned around, "Sorry, Alistair. I needed to see what was in your vault. Do you all know what's down there? Any of you? Because I'll tell you something. This ship won't reach its destination."

"Wait till she runs," Alistair ordered two men who appeared beside him, "Don't make it look like an execution."

Unperturbed River just looked down at her watch, "Triple-seven, five, slash, three, four, nine by ten. Zero, twelve, slash, acorn. Oh, and I could do with an air corridor."

Evy smiled and ran over to a keyboard, typing something in.

"What was that, what did she say?" Amy looked at the Doctor, confused.

"Coordinates," he replied, going over to Evy, "Why are you putting them in?"

Evy just laughed, looking up at him, "Oh stop," she tapped his cheek.

"But it's _River_ …" he mock whined. He wasn't too comfortable around River, being their future and all, it went against his instincts to mess with the time stream _that_ much. And he'd learned his lesson on Mars about what could happen.

"And the last time River appeared it meant an exciting, terrifying, and dangerous adventure, which I know you love," she turned to him, looking up at his hesitant face. She stepped closer to him, draping her arms around his neck, just playing with the hair at the nape, "Please?"

He looked down at her, looking up at him with just the smallest pout, before sighing, "Fine."

She smiled widely, turning back to the controls, "I knew that would work."

"What would work?" he frowned, confused.

She glanced over at him, "I know how to distract you just enough to get away with certain things."

"That's not true," he countered, leaning against the console as she put in the rest of the coordinates, "I'm always attentive. I'm undistractable."

"Undistractable? Really?"

"Yes."

"Well…" Evy began, before stepping up to him and pulling him down by his lapels, kissing him deeply. Moments later, she pulled away, smiling, satisfied at the dazed look on his face. She turned and got back to the coordinates, putting in the last one as River spoke on the monitor once more.

"Like I said on the dance floor, you might want to find something to hang on to!" River shouted before there was an explosion, blasting the door off the ship.

Evy pulled a lever, the TARDIS materialized in space a moment after the explosion on the Home Box occurred, only a small distance away from the ship itself. She looked over at the Doctor, still looking dazed, and nudged him, "Can you get the door love?"

The Doctor seemed to snap out of his thoughts, looking between Evy to the box to the door before running over to the door. He paused a moment to look back at Evy as she leaned against the railing, her arms crossed, smirking at him, "Oh you're good…" he smiled at her, pulling the door open just as River fell through it, landing half on top of him.

"Doctor?" Amy called, seeing him topple over.

"River?" the Doctor asked, helping the woman in the black dress to her feet.

River spun around and watched the ship fly away, "Follow that ship!" she called, running up to the console where Evy was already putting in the instructions to slave the TARDIS to the ship. A moment later their old box took off after it, River, Evy, and the Doctor working the controls as Amy held onto the railing, watching them.

River pulled off her red, high heeled shoes and hung them from the monitor, "They've gone into warp drive, we're losing them! Stay close!"

"We're trying!" Evy called.

"Use the stabilizers."

"There aren't any stabilizers!" the Doctor shouted back.

"The blue switches!" River nodded to the blue buttons near the Doctor.

"The blue ones don't do anything, they're just...blue," he replied.

Evy rolled her eyes, they were stabilizers, he just never used them.

"Yes, they're blue," River made her way over to them, "They're the blue _stabilizers_!" she pushed them down and the ship suddenly became still and quiet, "See?"

"Yeah, well, it's just boring now, isn't it?" the Doctor said, annoyed, "They're...boring-ers. They're blue boring-ers."

"Doctor, how come she can fly the TARDIS?" Amy looked over at him.

"You call _that_ flying the TARDIS?" he demanded, falling back onto the jump seat with a sulk, "Ha!"

Evy smiled and walked over to sit on his lap, looking over at Amy, "I tend to fly the TARDIS a bit smoother than him, but I _never_ use the stabilizers…it puts him in a mood."

"A mood?" the Doctor looked at her.

"Yes, a pouty mood."

"A _pouty_ mood?"

"But a very cute, pouty mood," she pecked him on the cheek. He just shook his head at her and put his arm around her waist, squeezing her close.

River couldn't help but smile, watching them for a moment, before getting back to business, "Ok. I've mapped the probability vectors, done a fold-back on the temporal isometry, charted the ship to its destination, and parked us right alongside."

"Parked us?" the Doctor frowned, "We haven't landed."

"Of course we've landed. I just landed her."

The Doctor stood up, forcing Evy up as well, as he walked over to the console, "But it didn't make the noise."

"What noise?"

"You know, the..." he then proceeded to make a gasping, raspy imitation of the TARDIS's wheezing noise.

"It's not supposed to make that noise."

"You leave the brakes on," Evy had to agree.

"Yeah, well, it's a brilliant noise," he argued, turning to Evy, "I _love_ that noise."

"That's why I don't remind you the brakes are on."

He grinned widely, pulling her down the steps towards the doors, calling, "Come along, Pond, let's have a look!"

"No, wait!" River shouted, "Environment checks."

"Oh, yes, sorry!" he rolled his eyes, "Quite right. Environment checks," he stuck his head out the doors before pulling back in, "Nice out."

"We're somewhere in the Garn Belt," River continued, ignoring him, "There's an atmosphere. Early indications suggest..."

"We're on Alfava Metraxis, the seventh planet of the Dundra System," the Doctor cut in quickly, "Oxygen-rich atmosphere, toxins in the soft band, 11-hour day, and..." he stuck his head out the doors once more, "Chances of rain later."

River rolled her eyes and turned to Amy, "He thinks he's _so_ hot when he does that," she glanced over at Evy and the Doctor walking back to the console, "Only Evy agrees with him."

"How come you can fly the TARDIS?" Amy asked her.

"Oh, I had lessons from the very best."

"Well, yeah," the Doctor began, smugly.

"Yes, thank you Evy," River smirked over at the other woman, before laughing at the Doctor's putout expression.

"Oh, I'm sure you helped," Evy gave him a quick peck.

"Of course he did," River nodded, "He, by example, taught me what NOT to do," Evy laughed, "Right then," she picked up her shoes and headed for the door, "Why did they land here?"

"They didn't land," the Doctor called after her.

"Sorry?"

"You should've checked the Home Box, it crashed," he said, walking over to the doors with River, Evy following as well.

River stepped outside and the Doctor shut the doors behind her, rushing back to the console.

"Explain!" Amy demanded, turning to the Doctor, "Who is that and how did she do that museum thing?"

"It's a long story and we don't know most of it," the Doctor replied, working the controls, "Off we go!"

"What are you doing?"

"Leaving. She's got where she wants to go, let's go where we want to go."

"Are you basically running away?"

"Yep."

"Why?" Amy crossed her arms.

"'Cos she's the future. Our future."

"Can you run away from that?"

"I can run away from anything I like."

"Except me," Evy called. They looked over to see her still standing by the doors, "And I'd rather like to see what she was following."

The Doctor looked ready to argue but then Amy spoke, seeing her opportunity, "Hang on, is that a _planet_ out there?"

"Yes…" he answered slowly, "Of course it's a planet."

"You promised me a planet. Five minutes?"

The Doctor looked between Amy and Evy, knowing there was no way he would possibly win, "Ok," he sighed, "Five minutes!"

"Yes!" Amy clapped, running for the doors.

The Doctor stalked after her, "But that's all, 'cos I'm telling you now, that woman is not dragging me into anything!"

"Oh, but I will," Evy smiled, giving him a quick peck of thanks before taking his hand and pulling him out along with her.

They were on a beach, looking at where the ship had crashed into a very large, very old, stone structure. There were a few places burning and some debris scattered around the ground as they stood there.

"What caused it to crash?" River asked, "Not me."

"Nah, the airlock would've sealed seconds after you blew it," the Doctor said.

"The Home Box has it recorded as the warp engines having a phase-shift," Evy recalled, "There were no survivors."

"A phase-shift would have to be sabotage," River sighed, "I did warn them."

"About what?" the Doctor asked.

"Well, at least the building was empty. Aplan temple. Unoccupied for centuries," she pulled out a device from her purse and began keying something into it.

The Doctor and Evy turned to walk back to Amy, only to see she had been walking towards them, "Aren't you going to introduce us?" she asked them.

"Amy Pond, Professor River Song," the Doctor introduced quickly.

"Ah, I'm going to be a Professor some day, am I?" she turned to face them, her eyes wide, surprised. The Doctor winced at the slip of information, Evy just squeezed his hand, "How exciting!" she laughed, "Spoilers!" and then turned her attention back to her device.

"Yeah, but who is she and how did she do that?" Amy whispered to them as the Doctor stalked past, pulling Evy along with him, "She just left you a note in a museum!"

The Doctor just walked off a bit, looking around.

"Two things always guaranteed to show up in a museum," River told Amy, "The Home Box of category four star liner and, sooner or later, them. It's how the Doctor keeps score."

"I know," Amy laughed.

"It's hilarious, isn't it?"

"I'm nobody's taxi service!" the Doctor strode up to them with a sarcastic laugh before turning to River, "I'm not gonna be there to catch you every time you feel like jumping out of a spaceship."

River just smiled, "And you are so wrong…Evy will be there and, therefore, so will you," she looked back at the ship, " _And_ there's one survivor. There's a thing in the belly of that ship that can't _ever_ die," she looked back to see the Doctor looking curious, " _Now_ he's listening!" she turned to Amy, "Learned that from Evy as well," she laughed, picking up her device and speaking into it, "You lot in orbit yet? Yeah, I saw it land. I'm at the crash site. Try and home in on my signal," she walked off a little ways away and held up her device, but it was too weak, she turned around, "Doctor, can one of you sonic me? I need to boost the signal so we can use it as a beacon."

The Doctor reluctantly took out his sonic and flashed it in her direction, she dropped into a small curtsey and continued signaling whoever it was she was contacting.

"Ooh, Doctor!" Amy laughed, "You _soniced_ her!"

"We have a minute!" River called, motioning them over, "Shall we?" she pulled out her old TARDIS-shaped diary and flipped through a few pages, "Where were we up to? Have we done the Bone Meadows?"

"What's the book?"

"Stay away from it," the Doctor warned her.

"What is it though?"

"Her diary," Evy answered.

" _Our_ diary," River corrected.

"Containing her past, but our future."

"Time travel," the Doctor muttered, "We keep meeting in the wrong order."

Just then four columns of swirling dust appeared on the beach, four soldiers appearing within them, dressed in desert camouflage uniforms. One of the solders, an older man, approached River, "You promised me an army, Dr. Song."

"No," she corrected, "I promised you the _equivalent_ of an army. This is the Doctor and Evy."

The Doctor gave a little lighthearted salute.

"Father Octavian, sir," Octavian reached out and shook his hand, Evy's as well, "Ma'am. Bishop, second class. 20 clerics at my command. The troops are already in the drop ship and landing shortly. Dr. Song was helping us with a covert investigation. Has Dr. Song explained what we're dealing with?"

"Doctor, Evy, what do you know of the Weeping Angels?" River asked.

The Doctor tensed, his hand immediately taking Evy's as he thought back to their last encounter with an Angel. He'd been so _stupid_ then…he'd been willing to let his Link get killed by a Weeping Angel…granted, he hadn't known she was his Link at the time, or even a Time Lady, but now, thinking on it, it filled him with dread and guilt.

Evy squeezed his hand reassuringly, sensing his thoughts, ' _I'm still here,_ ' she reminded him. They'd survived then. They'd be fine now.

~8~

Night had fallen rather quickly and a camp had been made as soon as the transport ship arrived. Octavian was striding across the grounds with the Doctor, Evy, and Amy following as he explained the situation, "The Angel, as far as we know, is still trapped in the ship. Our mission is to get inside and neutralize it. We can't get through up top, we'd be too close to the drives. According to this…" he held up a device similar to River's with a map on it, "Behind the cliff face, there's a network of catacombs leading right up to the temple. We can blow through the base of the cliffs, get into the entrance chamber, then make our way up."

"Oh, good," the Doctor breathed, his thumb absently running over Evy's knuckles in an effort to calm himself more than her.

"Good, sir?"

"Catacombs, probably dark ones. Dark catacombs, great!"

"Technically, I think it's called a 'Maze of the Dead.'"

"You should really stop talking," Evy cut in, feeling the Doctor tensing more. Well, she never thought she'd say that to anyone besides the Doctor.

"Father Octavian?" a cleric called.

"Excuse me, sir, ma'am," Octavian said before he went to join the man.

The Doctor waved him off before heading over to a table with some equipment, sonicing it.

"You're letting people call you 'sir' and 'ma'am,'" Amy remarked, "You never do that…" she pushed herself up on the table to sit on it, "So, whatever a Weeping Angel is, it's really bad, yeah?"

"Now that's interesting..." the Doctor looked up at her, "You're still here. Which part of 'Wait in the TARDIS till we tell you it's safe' was so confusing?"

Evy smiled a bit, "Pouty face has become frowny face," she tilted her head, "Taking leaf out of your fifth incarnation's book are we?"

Before he could answer, River stuck her head out of a small transport unit, "Evy! I could use your help setting up some computers."

Evy nodded, giving the Doctor a peck before heading off, but not before telling him silently that he should tell Amy what she was about to face if she wasn't going to go to the TARDIS.

He gave her a small smile and a nod, watching as she disappeared into the unit before turning back to Amy, "A Weeping Angel, Amy, is the deadliest, most powerful, most malevolent life form evolution has ever produced, and one is trapped inside that wreckage and I'm supposed to climb in with it and my Link and a screwdriver and a torch and, assuming Evy and I survive the radiation and the whole ship doesn't blow up in our faces, do something clever which I haven't actually thought of yet. That's my day, that's what I'm up to. Any questions?"

"Is River Song your wife?" Amy asked, "'Cos she's someone from your future, and the way she talks to you, I've never seen anyone but Evy talk to you like that but so does she. She's kinda like, you know, 'Heel, boy!' She's Mrs. Doctor from the future, isn't she? Is she gonna be your wife one day?"

The Doctor looked at her seriously, "No, _Evy_ is my Link."

Amy just rolled her eyes, "Yes, yes, Evy's your Link but is River your _wife_?"

She held her breath as she waited for his answer. It was horrible of her, she knew, but she was hoping River _was_ his wife. She could see how close Evy and the Doctor were, how much they seemed to love each other, but…if River was his wife…then it _had_ to mean he wouldn't _always_ be with Evy…and if he could get over Evy…maybe, just maybe, there was a chance he could be with _her_.

The Doctor's jaw tensed at her question. It wasn't Amy's fault, they hadn't exactly explained to her what a Link was, what Linking was, but still…just the thought that he could ever…

He shook his head, "Yes," he began nodding to himself, "Evy's right, I'm definitely frowny face today."

"Doctor?" Evy called from the transport, "There's something you need to see!"

He turned and headed to the transport as Amy hopped off the table to follow, River came out calling for Father Octavian as well.

"Why do they call them Father?" Amy asked.

"He's their Bishop, they're his clerics," the Doctor explained, "It's the 51st century, the Church has moved on."

He walked into the unit to see black and white footage of the Weeping Angel on a monitor, facing away from them, hands covering its eyes, as River held a remote. Evy was sitting at a small keypad before four other monitors with different readings and monitoring systems on it. Her sonic on the table before her.

"What do you think?" River asked as Father Octavian walked in, "It's from the security cameras in the _Byzantium_ vault. I ripped it when I was on board. Sorry about the quality. It's four seconds. I've put it on loop."

They watched as the four seconds played over, a small blip of static in the middle of the loop.

"Yeah, it's an Angel," the Doctor sighed as he stood before the screen, "Hands covering its face."

"You've encountered the Angels before?" Octavian asked.

"A long time ago on Earth," Evy told them, "Four of them, but they were at their end, barely surviving."

The Doctor spun around and turned to Evy, "I'm actually rather missing that dress you wore now."

Evy blushed, "That thing was far too short to be decent!"

He just grinned, "But it gave me a lovely view of your legs."

"Doctor!" she shouted, throwing her sonic at him. He caught it with a laugh and tossed it back to her.

Octavian cleared his throat, not too sure what on Earth they were talking about.

"Right, back to business," the Doctor nodded.

"It's just a statue," Amy said, looking at the screen.

"It's a statue when you see it," River explained.

"Where did it come from?" the Doctor asked, looking at River.

"Oh, pulled from the ruins of Razbahan, end of last century. It's been in private hands ever since, dormant all that time."

"Dormant and patient are two very different things," Evy remarked, looking at the screen.

"What's that mean, it's a statue when you see it?" Amy shook her head, not following.

"The Weeping Angels can only move if they're unseen," River told her, "So legend has it."

"No, it's not legend, it's a quantum lock," the Doctor cut in.

"The Angels literally cease to exist when they are in the sight of any other living creature," Evy explained, "They become stone. It's the ultimate defense mechanism."

"What, being a stone?" Amy asked.

"Being a stone...until you turn your back," the Doctor finished. He took a breath and headed out of the unit, the others following as he looked at the ship, "What do you think?" he looked at Evy.

"The hyper drive probably split on impact," she said, eyeing the ship, "It'll be flooded with radiation by now, everything from cracked electrons to gravity storms. What should be deadly to almost any living thing."

"Deadly to an Angel?" Octavian asked hopefully.

"Dinner to an Angel," the Doctor corrected, "The longer we leave it, the stronger it will grow. Who built that temple? Are they still around?"

"The Aplans," River answered, looking down at her device, "The indigenous life form. They died out 400 years ago."

"200 years later, the planet was terra-formed," Octavian added, "Currently there are six billion human colonists."

"You lot, you're everywhere!" the Doctor laughed, "Like rabbits! We'll never get done saving you."

"Well, then we'll always have something to do," Evy smiled.

"If there is a clear and present danger to the local population..." Octavian began.

"Oh, there is," the Doctor said seriously, "Bad as it gets. Bishop, lock and load!"

"Verger, how we doing with those explosives?" Octavian turned to his men, "Dr. Song, with me."

"Two minutes," River told him before walking back to the equipment table, "Sweetie, I need you!"

The Doctor walked over at Evy, "Sweetie?"

"I think she means you," she replied, amused at how irritated he seemed by the nickname. She could imagine River calling him that just to get on his nerves.

He sighed and shook his head, taking her hand and walking over to River.

"Anybody need me?" Amy asked, "Nobody?"

"We'll be right back Amy," Evy smiled, "Two minutes."

Amy nodded and turned to go wait in the transport unit.

The Time Lords walked over to River who held a book out to the Doctor, "I found this. Definitive work on the Angels. Well, the only one. Written by a madman, it's barely readable, but I've marked a few passages…"

The Doctor flipped through the pages quickly, "Not bad…" he handed it over to Evy who flipped through it as well, "Bit slow in the middle."

"I really _hate_ his girlfriend," she joked, handing the book back.

He laughed a moment before thinking of something, "No, hang on, wait, wait!" he sniffed the book.

"Dr. Song?" Amy called from the transport, "Did you have more than one clip of the Angel?"

"No, just the four seconds," River called back.

Evy frowned as Amy looked confused and stepped back into the unit, "I'm going to check the readings, see if I can't hack into what's left of the security feed from the ship, get a visual."

"Brilliant," the Doctor smiled at her as she headed back to the unit as well. Evy laughed as she heard the Doctor shouting, "This book is wrong! What's wrong with this book, it's wrong."

She stepped into the unit to see Amy leaning forward to look at the time code on the screen, but what made her stop short was the fact that the Angel had moved and was now facing forward with its hands down. Her eyes widened as words from the book came back to her, 'That which holds the image of an Angel becomes itself an Angel.'

She needed to shut off that screen.

"Amy?" Evy called.

Amy jumped back, the remote in her hands, "Evy!" she gasped, "Oh, thank God, the Angel, it keeps moving."

~8~

River was watching the Doctor closely as he examined the book, "Oh, it's so strange when you and Evy go all baby-faced. How early is this for you?" she looked down at her diary.

"Very early," he muttered.

"So you don't know who I am yet?" she smirked.

"How do you know who we are? We don't always look the same."

"I've got pictures of all your faces. Sketches actually, of you and Evy. You never show up in the right order though. I need the spotter's guide."

"Pictures?" he looked up suddenly, "Why aren't there pictures?"

~8~

"We've got to shut it off," Evy told her calmly.

"I've tried," Amy told her, pressing the button on the remote a few times, but the TV kept turning back on. She put the remote down and they both looked at the screen, "But it's just a recording. It shouldn't be able to move."

Evy frowned, seeing the power cord, "Let's try this..." she knelt forward and pulled at it, but it was stuck.

"Evy!" Amy gasped. Evy looked up to see the Angel now had its face nearly pressed to the camera and jumped back.

Getting up, she grabbed Amy's arm and pulled her to the door, "We need to get out _now_."

Amy tried to get the door open while Evy made sure to keep her eye on the Angel, "It won't budge!"

Evy stepped forward, flashing her sonic, "Deadlocked…" she muttered.

There was only one problem…transport units didn't have deadlocks. They looked back at the screen to see the Angel's face in a predatory expression, mouth wide with fangs.

"Doctor!" Amy shouted.

~8~

"This whole book, it's a warning about the Weeping Angels," the Doctor said, "So why no pictures? Why not show us what to look out for?"

"There was a bit about images," River reminded him.

"Yes!" he exclaimed, flipping through the book, "Hang on...'That which holds the image of an Angel becomes itself an Angel.'"

~8~

"Doctor!" Amy tried again.

Evy ran toward the screen, kneeling down beside it to try and sonic it off.

~8~

"What does that mean?" River asked, "'An image of a Angel becomes itself an Angel.'"

~8~

"Amy," Evy replied slowly, "Stay calm…"

Amy looked over to see an image of the Angel had become a hazy projection standing in the middle of the room.

"It's in the room…" Amy breathed, stunned.

"Just keep your eye on it and it won't move."

~8~

' _Doctor!_ ' Evy yelled, ' _The Angel!_ '

"Evy!" the Doctor shouted suddenly, turning and running to the transport, "Amy!"

~8~

"Doctor!" Amy called, hearing him.

"Are you alright?" he shouted, banging on the door, "What's happening?"

"An image of an Angel is an Angel," Evy yelled.

"It's coming out of the television!" Amy told him.

"It's more like a projection in the middle of the room," Evy explained, frantically trying to sonic the wires running into the screen.

"Don't take your eyes off it!" the Doctor shouted, "It can't move if you're looking."

"I know!" Amy yelled, "Evy told me. I've got my eye on it."

"What's wrong?" he sounded frustrated, the sound of his sonic just barely penetrating the sides of the unit.

"I already tried that," Evy called, "It's deadlocked."

"There is no deadlock," River said.

"I know."

The Doctor swallowed hard, "Don't blink, Amy! Don't even blink!"

Evy threw her sonic down, frustrated, looking around. She saw a cutting device and grabbed it, trying to cut the power feed into the TV.

~8~

"What are you doing?" River asked the Doctor as he frantically tried to sonic a small box on the side of the unit.

"Cutting the power," he said, having the same idea as Evy, "It's using the screen, I'm turning the screen off. It's no good, it's deadlocked the whole system."

"There's no deadlock!"

"There is now!" he snapped, before turning back to the door, he _needed_ to get in there, he had to! Evy was trapped in there with a Weeping Angel, she needed him, "Evy! Can you turn it off from in there?"

~8~

"I'm trying," she shouted, snapping through the cable, but the screen stayed on, "It's feeding off the screen, overpowering it. I can't cut off the power!"

"Don't take your eyes off the Angel!"

"I'm not!" Amy called back as Evy looked down at the ground, thinking…

"Each time it moves, it'll move faster. Don't even blink."

"I'm not blinking! Have you ever tried not blinking?" she fumbled for the remote, trying to switch it off again, but it blinked back on, "It just keeps switching back on!"

~8~

"What are you doing?" the Doctor asked River, seeing her aiming a small blowtorch at the door.

"I'm trying to cut through," she replied, "It's not even warm."

"There is no way in, it's not physically possible," he sounded almost hopeless, desperate to get in. He had to! He could feel his hearts racing, a sweat breaking out on his forehead, his hands shaking almost so badly that he could barely hold the book about the Angels, trying to find something to help them. He felt like ice water was running through his veins, God...he was _terrified_...he was out here, Evy was in there...and there was _nothing_ he could do...

~8~

"What's it gonna do to me?" Amy asked, hearing them, actually starting to get scared now that even the Doctor didn't know how to help.

"Just keep looking at it," he shouted.

Evy shut her eyes, focusing on the situation, using her inspiration, searching for another way out.

"Don't stop looking!" the Doctor added.

"Just tell me!" Amy called, "Just tell me. Tell me!"

"Amy, not the eyes. Look anywhere but don't look at the eyes."

"Why?"

"What is it?" River asked.

"'The eyes are not the windows of the soul, they are the doors,'" the Doctor read, "'Beware what may enter there.'"

Evy's eyes snapped open, "Amy hit the pause button when I tell you…ok?"

Amy nodded, "Ok."

Evy looked at the screen, watching the numbers, "One, two, three…now!"

Amy hit pause, stopping the image right on the static of the frames repeating.

The projection in the room froze before flickering off, the screen powering down as well. The door burst open as the Doctor ran in. He half flew over to Evy's side, checking to make sure she was ok, pulling her into his arms when he saw that she was just as River looked Amy over. He breathed a sigh of relief, resting his forehead against Evy's, his eyes shut.

"I'm fine," Evy told him, pulling away as he helped her up, she smiled over at Amy, "We're fine."

"It's gone," Amy gasped, relieved.

"The break in the recording when the frames repeated wasn't technically the image of an Angel. Freeze it there and no Angel."

"You are brilliant!" the Doctor hugged her tightly once more.

"That was amazing!" River smiled.

Evy pulled away, walking over to Amy and giving her a reassuring hug as well, knowing the Doctor wouldn't.

"So it was here?" River asked, "That was the Angel?"

"That was a _projection_ of the Angel," the Doctor replied, "It's reaching out, getting a good look at us. It's no longer dormant."

There was an explosion outside and the Doctor and Evy ran to the door to look out.

"It's gone positive!" a cleric called.

"Doctor!" Octavian shouted, "Evy! We're through!"

The Doctor nodded and looked back at River and Amy, "Ok. Now it starts."

He took Evy's hand and pulled her out of the unit.

~8~

The Doctor climbed down a rope ladder into the Maze of the Dead, joining Octavian and the others at the bottom, Evy following after him. A cleric stepped up, reaching out a hand to help her down when the Doctor stepped in the way, "No, no," he shook a finger at the man, "No touching my Link."

The cleric backed off as the Doctor put his hands on Evy's waist to help her himself. She hopped off the last rung and turned in his arms to face him, "This one's a bit possessive isn't he?"

"Oh like you're not?" he retorted lightly, smiling.

Evy laughed and they walked over to Amy and River and the other clerics.

"Does anyone have a gravity globe?" Evy asked, looking at the men.

"Grav globe," Octavian ordered. One of the clerics took out a sphere from his pack and handed it to Octavian.

"Where are we?" Amy looked around at the darkness, "What is this?"

"It's an Aplan mortarium," River replied, "Sometimes called a 'Maze of the Dead.'"

"And what's that?"

"Well, if you happen to be a creature of living stone..." the Doctor began, taking the globe from Octavian and kicking it up into the air where it stopped and lit up the cave, "The perfect hiding place."

They looked around at all the statues standing there on various levels and alcoves, hundreds, thousands of them.

"I guess this makes it a bit trickier," Octavian remarked.

"Only a bit though," Evy laughed.

"A stone angel on the loose amongst stone statues. A lot harder than I'd prayed for."

"A needle in a haystack," River commented.

"A needle that looks like hay," the Doctor corrected, "A hay-like needle. Of death. A hay-like needle of death in a haystack of, er, statues…" he looked over at Evy, who just shook her head, and then at River, "No, yours was fine."

"Right," Octavian nodded, taking charge, turning to his clerics, "Check every single statue in this chamber. You know what you're looking for. Complete visual inspection. One question, how do we fight it?"

"We face it and hope for the best," Evy sighed as she and the Doctor headed off, Amy following.

Neither of them noticed Octavian grab River's arm.

"They don't know yet, do they?" he asked her quietly, "Who and what you are."

"It's too early in their time stream," she replied.

"Well, make sure they don't work it out, or they're not gonna help us."

"I won't let you down. Believe you me, I have no intention of going back to prison."

River pulled her arm out of his grip and walked off after the Doctor and Evy. She caught up with them, the Doctor turning his light in every which direction while Evy kept hers before her, Amy following behind them.

"You alright?" she came up to Amy, seeing her staring at her hand.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Amy smiled, "So, what's a Maze of the Dead?"

"Oh, it's not as bad as it sounds. It's just a labyrinth with dead people buried in the walls."

"That _was_ pretty bad," Evy called back to them.

River laughed before taking Amy's arm, "Right give me your arm…" and pulled out a syringe, "This won't hurt a bit."

"Ow!" Amy gasped as it really _did_ hurt.

"There, you see. I lied. It's a viro-stabilizer. Stabilizes your metabolism against radiation, drive burn, anything. You're going to need it when we get up to that ship."

Amy glanced up at Evy and the Doctor. The Doctor was trying to get a reading off of one of the clerics' devices while Evy stood next to him, her light out, watching his back, "So what're they like?" she asked River, "In the future, I mean. 'Cos you know them in the future, don't you?"

"The Doctor and Evy?" River glanced at her, "Well, the Doctor's the Doctor. And Evy's…Evy."

"Oh, well that's _very_ helpful," Amy rolled her eyes, "Mind if I write that down?"

"Yes, we are," River called out suddenly to them.

"Sorry, what?" the Doctor asked, still trying to get a reading as Evy watched, amused.

"Talking about the two of you."

"We weren't listening. Busy."

Evy snorted. He was _so_ listening.

"The other way up," River told him.

He turned the device over and nodded, "Yeah."

"You're _so_ his wife," Amy said, sure of it.

"Oh, Amy, Amy, Amy!" River shook her head, "This is _the Doctor_ we're talking about. Do you really think it could be anything _that_ simple?"

"Yep."

"Well, yes I suppose it _could_ be," River said in thought, "But it's certainly not _me_. Evy's his Link."

Amy sighed, "Yeah, they say that all the time, but they never said what it is."

River smiled softly, "The Link, in one form, can be like their soul mate, for lack of a better term," she eyed the two of them as they leaned over the device, checking the readings, "It's like, the one person in the Universe who understands them. When they meet, they are instantly connected via a mental bond as well as an emotional bond. They can tell what the other is thinking, feeling, everything. They are so deeply connected that there are no secrets when it comes to Links. Forever and always, they are united, mind, heart and soul."

"Sounds beautiful," Amy murmured quietly, though a small frown was evident on her face as she looked at the Doctor and Evy. Could she really fool herself into thinking she had a chance?

"It is," River sighed, seeing the two of them together, it always made her happy. They were so close, so connected, so happy, so in love...

She glanced at Amy, knowing her explanation of the Link had upset the young ginger. She knew it wasn't _exactly_ what a Link was, though her description of it really did seem to fit the Doctor and Evy, she truly couldn't imagine anyone else but them for each other, they just...fit...so well. She knew that there could be any number of versions of the Link, friendship, sibling-like love, rivalry, or nothing at all, but...Amy didn't need to know about that. She knew the Doctor and Evy's future, and their past, she knew Amy, she knew about what the girl felt. This was just her way of trying to make the girl realize that what the Time Lords had couldn't be broken, and to get her to realize what had always been right in front of her, _someone_ who had always been right in front of her.

"Oi!" Evy called over, pulling River from her thoughts, "River, come look at these readings."

She and Amy headed over, the Doctor holding out the device for them to see when they suddenly heard gunfire. The Doctor and Evy took off, running back down to the main chamber, only to see that a young cleric had fired his weapon at one of the statues.

"Sorry," the cleric apologized, "Sorry, I thought...I thought it looked at me."

"We know what the Angel looks like," Octavian stepped up to him, "Is _that_ the Angel?"

"No, sir."

"No, sir, it is not! According to the Doctor and Evy, we are facing an enemy of unknowable power and infinite evil. So it would be good, it would be very good, if we could all remain calm in the presence of decor."

"Who are you then?" Evy called over to them, not too fond of Octavian cutting the poor boy down.

"Bob, ma'am," he answered.

"Ah, that's a great name," the Doctor smiled, "I love Bob."

"It's a Sacred Name," Octavian added, "We all have Sacred Names, they're given to us in the service of the Church."

"Sacred Bob," Evy smiled as well as she and the Doctor walked over to them.

"More like Scared Bob now, eh?" the Doctor asked calmly.

"Yes, sir," Bob admitted, looking down.

"Ah, good," he patted him on the shoulder, "Scared keeps you fast. Anyone in this room who isn't scared is a moron. Carry on."

"We'll be moving into the maze in two minutes," Octavian called to his clerics before turning to Bob, "You stay with Christian and Angelo. Guard the approach."

The Doctor and Evy turned and walked back to River and Amy, Evy carrying on to look at the device in River's hand and examine the data with her a little farther away, where there was more light from the gravity globe.

Amy eyed the Doctor closely, "Are you scared?"

"Am I a moron?" he retorted.

"Sometimes an idiot," Evy called, looking up, "But _never_ a moron."

Amy nodded, looking at the Doctor, "So you're scared."

The Doctor looked over at Evy and River, quietly discussing the results, before turning to Amy, "There's a Weeping Angel after us and my Link is here…I'm _terrified_."

He felt someone wrap their arm through his and looked over to see Evy standing beside him, "We've faced them before," she reminded him, "You weren't scared then."

"We weren't completely Linked then," he also reminded her, "I didn't even know you were a Time Lady!"

Amy frowned, "How could you not know she was an alien too?"

"I wore a necklace when I first traveled with him," Evy nodded over at the Doctor, "A different one than this," she gestured to the small medallion of the Seal of Rassilon that she wore, "It kept the fact I was like him hidden from him. He thought I was a human."

"Why would you want to hide that?"

"I was Linked to him, he wasn't Linked to me," Evy sighed, "He also had just lost one of his companions to an alternate reality, I didn't want to complicate matters by adding Linking to it on top of the fact he wasn't the last of the Time Lords like he thought he was…it was just a big, old mess."

Amy nodded slowly, though she was only slightly following along with that logic, "And you're Linked now?"

"Yup," the Doctor popped his P, "Bit of a saving the world thing, bit of a near regeneration for her, destroyed that stupid necklace, let me Link to her, finally!"

"Ready to move out?" Octavian called, walking over to them, cutting off anymore talk of Linking and what had happened.

They nodded and headed off after the Bishop down a passage and over to some stairs, climbing up and up.

"Isn't there a chance this lot's just gonna collapse?" Amy asked them, looking at the caverns around them, "There's a whole ship up there."

"Incredible builders, the Aplans," River commented.

"Had dinner with their chief architect once," the Doctor added, looking at Evy, "You remember that?" she nodded, "Two heads are better than one."

"You mean you helped him?" Amy looked over at them.

"No, he means he had two heads," Evy explained.

"That book, the very end, what did it say?" the Doctor asked, glancing over at River.

"Hang on," River shuffled through her pack, pulling it out.

"Read it to us."

"'What if we had ideas that could think for themselves?'" River read, "'What if one day our dreams no longer needed us? When these things occur and are held to be true, the time will be upon us. The time of Angels.'"

"Huh," the Doctor muttered as they kept walking. They managed to climb four levels so far.

"Are we there yet?" Amy asked, "It's a hell of a climb."

"The maze is on six levels representing the ascent of the soul," River told her, "Only two levels to go."

"Lovely species, the Aplans," the Doctor commented

"We should really visit them again," Evy agreed.

"I thought they were all dead?" Amy frowned.

"So's Virginia Woolf," the Doctor replied, nodding to Evy, "We're on her bowling team. Very relaxed, sort of cheerful. That's having two heads. You're never short of a snog with an extra head…"

Evy slowed and blinked. She looked around, something telling her something was _very_ off.

"Doctor, there's something," River began, "I don't know what it is..."

"You feel like something's wrong?" Evy asked as River nodded, "Me too."

"Don't know what it is yet either," the Doctor agreed, "Working on it. Then they started having laws against self-marrying and what was that about? But that's the church for you. Er, no offence, Bishop."

"Quite a lot taken, if that's alright, Doctor," Octavian continued to lead them. They walked through a narrow passage lined with statues, pausing as Octavian checked the map, "Lowest point in the wreckage is only about 50 feet up from here. That way."

"Church had a point, if you think about it," Amy remarked, "The divorces must have been messy."

"Doctor…" Evy began, her eyes on the same statue she'd been looking at when they'd first stopped, finally _seeing_ it.

"What's wrong?" Amy asked, seeing the girl tense and the Doctor look at her in concern.

"The Aplans had two heads…" Evy aimed her light to show the statue, "The statues only have one."

"Oh my God," River gasped, her eyes wide as she flashed her light at the statues around them, "How could we not notice that?"

"Low level Perception Filter," the Doctor suggested, stepping back from a statue, "Or maybe we're thick."

"Perception Filter," Evy shook her head, she had ample experience with those, "We would have noticed but we were moving too fast, not staying fixed on one statue long enough to notice…"

"What's wrong?" Octavian asked.

"Nobody move," the Doctor ordered, tugging Evy behind him, "Everyone stay exactly where they are. Bishop, we are truly sorry. We've made a mistake and we are all in danger."

"What danger?"

"Everyone, go over there," Evy nodded to a spot in the corner of the pathway where there were no statues, "Just move, don't ask questions, don't even speak."

Everyone moved over there, the Doctor backing up to join them with Evy, his light on the statue Evy had seen, "Ok…" he nodded, "I want you all to switch off your torches."

"Sir?" Octavian frowned.

"Do it," Evy told them.

They all turned off their lights until only the Doctor's remained. He swallowed, "I'm going to turn off this one too, just for a moment."

"Are you sure about this?" River asked him.

He tightened his grip on Evy's hand, "No."

He switched off the light for a split second and then back on. The status in front of them had all turned to face them.

Evy ran ahead, pulling the Doctor with her.

"Oh, my God!" Amy gasped as they ran off after the Doctor and Evy, "They've moved."

They stopped to see all the statues lining their way to the ship now facing them.

"They're Angels," Evy breathed, "All of them are Angels!"

"But they can't be," River shook her head.

"Clerics, keep watching them," the Doctor ordered as he and Evy backtracked to see the Angels behind them had moved forward, "Every statue in this maze, every single one, is a Weeping Angel. They're coming after us."

"There was only one Angel on the ship," River said, "Just the one, I _swear_."

"Could they have been here already?" Amy asked.

"The Aplans, what happened to them?" Evy asked River.

"No one knows," River answered.

"We know," the Doctor said, leading them back to the clerics.

"They don't look like Angels," Octavian remarked.

"And they're not fast," Amy added, "You said they were fast. They should have had us by now."

"They're dying," Evy flashed her light on one statue's deformed face, "They've lost their form and are trying to regain it. They had to have been down here for ages, just...starving. "

"Losing their image."

"And their image is their power," the Doctor nodded before his eye widened with realization, "Power. Power!"

"Doctor?"

"Don't you see? All that radiation spilling out, the drive burn. The crash wasn't an accident, it was a rescue mission, for the Angels. We're in the middle of an army and it's waking up."

"We need to get out of here fast," River said.

"Bob, Angelo, Christian, come in, please," Octavian called over a comm., "Any of you, come in!"

"It's Bob, sir," Bob answered, "Sorry, sir."

"Bob, are Angelo and Christian with you? All the statues are active. I repeat, all the statues are active!"

"I know, sir. Angelo and Christian are dead, sir. The statues killed them, sir."

' _How did he survive then?_ ' Evy wondered.

The Doctor stepped forward, taking the comm., "Bob, Sacred Bob, it's me, the Doctor. Where are you now?"

"I'm talking to my..." Octavian began.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, shut up!"

"I'm on my way up to you, sir, I'm homing on your signal," Bob said.

"Well done, Bob," he grinned, "Scared keeps you fast, told you, didn't I? Your friends, Bob, what did the Angel do to them?"

"Snapped their necks, sir."

"Angels don't kill like that," Evy stated, "Unless…"

The Doctor nodded, "They displace you in time. Unless they needed the bodies for something."

"Bob, did you check their data packs for vital signs?" Octavian asked, taking the comm. back, "We may be able to initiate a rescue plan..."

The Doctor snatched it back again, "Don't be an idiot! The Angels don't leave you alive!"

"That's just it," Evy said slowly, "They _don't_ leave you _alive_ …so how is _he_?"

"Bob, keep running, but tell us…how did you escape?"

"I didn't escape, sir," Bob replied, "The Angel killed me, too."

"What do you mean the Angel killed you too?"

"Snapped my neck, sir. Wasn't as painless as I expected but it was pretty quick, so that was something."

"If you're dead, how can we be talking to you?"

"You're not talking to me, sir. The Angel has no voice. It stripped my cerebral cortex from my body and reanimated a version of my consciousness to communicate with you. Sorry about the confusion."

"So when you say _you're_ on your way up to us..."

"It's the Angel that's coming, sir, yes."

The Doctor turned off the comm. and looked over to Evy, "No way out."

"Then we get out through the wreckage," Octavian shouted, "Go!"

"Go, go, go. All of you run!"

"Doctor?" Amy asked, seeing them hesitate, "Evy?"

"Yes, we're coming, just go, go, go!"

Amy and River ran off with the clerics, leaving only the Doctor, Evy, and Octavian behind.

"Called you an idiot," the Doctor said to him, "Sorry, but there's no way we could have rescued your men."

"I know that, sir," Octavian replied, "And when you've flown away in your little blue box, I'll explain that to their families."

Evy glared as Octavian stormed off, "Remind me to kick him before we leave," she told the Doctor.

The Doctor sighed and picked up the comm., "Angel Bob, which Angel am I talking to? The one from the ship?"

"Yes, sir," Bob replied, "The other Angels are still restoring."

"Ah, so the Angel is _not_ in the wreckage. Thank you!" he grabbed Evy's hand and they ran through the passage, only to see Amy standing there, "Don't wait for us, go, run."

"I can't!" Amy called. They turned and looked back at her, "No, really I can't."

"Why not?" Evy asked.

"Look at it," Amy nodded at her hand, "Look at my hand. It's stone!"

They looked down and saw that her hand looked just fine, a normal human hand.

' _Something's going on,_ ' Evy remarked.

' _Go ahead, help the other's get through, I'll help Amy,_ ' he told her.

She looked between the two for a moment before nodding and rushing off, the Doctor walking back to Amy. He quickly flashed his torch in her eyes, examining her, "You looked into the eyes of an Angel, didn't you?"

"I couldn't stop myself," she admitted, "I tried."

"Listen. It's messing with your head. Your hand is _not_ made of stone."

"It is. Look at it!"

"It's in your _mind_. I promise you. You can move that hand. You can let go."

"I can't, ok? I've tried and I can't. It's stone."

The torch began to flicker, "The Angel is gonna come and it's gonna turn this light off, and then there's nothing I can do to stop it. So do it, concentrate, move your hand!"

"I _can't_!"

"Then we're both going to die."

"You're not going to die."

"They'll kill the lights," his torch flickered again, there were Angels in the entrance.

"You've got to go, you know you have to. You've got all that stuff with River and that's all got to happen. And Evy…you can't leave her. You know you can't die here!"

"Time can be rewritten, it doesn't work like that," he said as the lights flickered again, Amy turned to look at the Angels over her shoulder, "Keep your eyes on it. Don't blink."

"Run!"

"You see, I'm not going, I'm not leaving you here."

"But Evy…"

"Evy wouldn't leave you either. She's telling me, right now, not to _dare_ leave you."

"I don't need you to die for me, Doctor, do I look that clingy?"

"You can move your hand."

"It's stone!"

"It's _not_ stone!"

"Those people up there will die without you. If you stay here with me, you'll have as good as killed them."

"Evy's up there with them. She can keep them safe."

"Doctor…please…"

' _Oh just bite her hand or something!_ ' Evy shouted to him, ' _Pain receptors will shock her out of it._ '

' _Brilliant_ ,' he replied.

He sighed, "Amy Pond, you are magnificent. And I'm sorry."

"It's ok," she swallowed, "I understand. You've got to leave me."

"Oh, no, I'm not leaving you, never," he laughed, "I'm sorry about this…" he bit her hand. She screamed and jumped away from him, "See, not stone. Now run!"

"You _bit_ me!" Amy gasped.

"Yep and you're alive," he pulled her back to the back pathway, eyes on the Angels.

"I've got a mark!" she looked at her hand, "Look at my hand!"

"Yeah, and you're alive, did I mention?" he pulled her behind him.

"Blimey, your teeth! Have you got space teeth?"

"Alive," he pushed her, "All I'm saying."

And they fled the passage, running till they entered the crash site to see the clerics, Octavian, River, and Evy waiting, looking up at the ship visible through the light of a gravity globe.

"Clerics, we're down to four men," Octavian was saying, "Expect incoming."

"Yeah, it's the Angels," the Doctor ran in, "They're coming. And they're draining the power for themselves. "

"Which means we won't be able to see them."

"Which means we can't stay here."

"There are more incoming!"

"Any suggestions?" River looked around.

"The statues are advancing on all sides and we don't have the climbing equipment to reach the _Byzantium_ ," Octavian said, he and his clerics eyeing the doors _._

"There's no way up, no way back, no way out," River turned to the Time Lords, "No pressure, but this is usually when you two come up with a really good idea. "

"There's always a way out," the Doctor remarked. The lights flickered off again, the Angels closer. He snapped his fingers and turned to Evy, taking her hands in his own, "There's always a way out…can you find it?"

She nodded, looking around the room carefully before closing her eyes and concentrating on the problem at hand…

"What's she doing?" Amy frowned, watching her.

River leaned over, speaking quietly, "Evy's one of the inspired…" Amy gave her a questioning look, "On their planet, there's an initiation where the children can go either one of three ways. They go mad, they run away…" she glanced at the Doctor, "Or they become inspired. It means she sees things we don't, where we see two paths, she might see a third. She catches things we might miss. If she _really_ focuses on something, she can find a solution…she's trying to find one now, fing another path, a way that gets us all out…hopefully alive."

Amy nodded, praying at Evy could get them out of this mess.

"Doctor?" the comm. crackled with Bob on the other end, "Can I speak to the Doctor, please?"

"Hello, Angels," he answered, his eyes on Evy, "What's your problem?"

"Your power will not last much longer and the Angels will be with you shortly. Sorry, sir."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"There's something the Angels are very keen you should know before the end."

"Which is…"

"I died in fear."

"I'm sorry?"

"You told me my fear would keep me alive but I died afraid, in pain, and alone. You made me trust you and, when it mattered, you let me down."

"What are they doing?" Amy whispered to River as the Doctor tensed even more.

"They're trying to make him angry," River replied.

Evy's eyes snapped open and she looked up to double check her plan, before turning to the Doctor.

' _Smash the gravity globe_ ,' she said, staring into his eyes, not wanting the Angel to hear, ' _It'll pull us straight up if we jump when it happens, right to the ship, leaving the Angels here._ '

"I'm sorry, sir," Bob kept on, "The Angels were very keen for you to know that."

"Well then, the Angels have made their third mistake because I'm not going to let that pass," the Doctor turned to the radio, "I'm sorry you're dead, Bob, but I swear to whatever is left of you, they will be sorrier."

"But you're trapped, sir, and about to die."

"Yeah, I'm trapped. Speaking of traps, this trap has got two great big mistakes in it. Two great big, whopping mistakes!"

"What mistakes, sir?"

The Doctor turned to Amy, "Trust me?"

"Yeah," she nodded.

Then to River, "Trust me?"

"Always," she replied quickly.

He looked at the clerics and Octavian, "You lot, trust me?"

"Sir, two more incoming!" a cleric shouted.

"We have faith, sir," Octavian replied.

He turned to Evy who spoke before he could, "I'll be _very_ insulted if you have to ask _me_ if I trust you."

He just smiled at her and turned back to Octavian, "Give me your gun," Octavian handed it over and the Doctor turned to them, "I'm about to do something incredibly stupid and dangerous. When I do..." he jumped in place, "Jump."

"Jump where?" Octavian asked.

"Just jump, high as you can. Come on, leap of faith, Bishop. On my signal."

"What signal?"

"You won't miss it," he said, aiming the gun at the roof.

"Sorry, can I ask again?" Bob cut in, "You mentioned two mistakes?"

"Oh, big mistakes," the Doctor held up the comm., "Huge. The first, is you've put my Link in danger and I won't have that, I won't let that go lightly. The second…there's one thing you never put in a trap, if you're smart, if you value your continued existence, if you have any plans about seeing tomorrow, there is one thing you never, _ever_ put in a trap."

"And what would that be, sir?"

"Me!"

And then he fired at the gravity globe causing it to explode.

To be continued…

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh I am fidgeting just thinking about the next chapter. I mean, if you thought it was bad that Evy got trapped with Amy in the transport unit with the Angel...well...I cannot wait. It is, by far, in my top three, probably my favorite of Series 5 (topping Amy's Choice and Cold Blood). I just...oh man, I don't want to give away too much and it's killing me. So I'm just gonna stop, zip it, and wait till tomorrow.
> 
> I keep thinking about the Wedding episode in the show :/ I don't think the 'wedding' was real. For one, River herself said to Amy something about the timeline being an aborted one or something, almost like it wasn't real, to try and make her feel better about Kovarian (which I'm wondering if it means Kovarian will be back) so I sort of feel that even she doesn't think it was real and that the whole 'marriage' is going to be like a little inside joke thing. Also...the way/reason it happened wasn't right. I didn't feel like the Doctor truly loved her and that he was just doing it so she could let him go, not the best reasons. I mean just before it happened he told her she embarrassed him. I...and this may stem from my first thoughts on River...but I always got the feeling that she might have been manipulating him. Like everytime she met him she dropped these little clues and suggestions that they were 'together' or 'intimate' in the future which put the thought in the Doctor's head to begin with, if she truly was concerned about the future she wouldn't have given anything away and just acted like any other companion in which case, if anything did happen between them, it would be all on the Doctor wanting it to and not because he thinks it has to due to River's little spoilers.
> 
> Speaking of weddings, no, the Doctor and Evy won't be getting married (like the Doctor and Professor in the Academic Series), but there is a little twist about that idea which we'll find out about in The Pandorica Opens.
> 
> Next chapter...will Evy find a way to stop the Angel in Amy's mind? Why is the Doctor snapping at people? How will Evy react to the Amy-Doctor kiss?


	8. Flesh and Stone

Everyone was scattered on the ground, struggling to stand in the aftermath of the jump, "Up!" the Doctor shouted, getting up and helping Evy up as well, "Look up!"

"You ok?" River asked, helping Amy.

"What happened?" Amy asked.

"We jumped."

"Jumped where?"

"Up, up, look up!" the Doctor repeated.

"Where are we?"

"Exactly where we were," River smiled.

"No we're not."

"Move your feet!" the Doctor soniced an indentation on the floor.

"Doctor, what am I looking at? Explain."

"Oh, come on, Amy, think!" he stood up, "The ship crashed with the power still on, yeah? So what else is still on?"

They all looked up to see they were standing on the bottom of the ship.

"The artificial gravity," Evy smiled, "Just took one good jump and here we are. Shooting out the gravity globe gave us an updraft."

The Doctor strode over to her, "You are absolutely brilliant!" he laughed, kissing her hard before dropping to the floor to continue his sonicing. Evy laughed as well, kneeling to help him with her own sonic.

"The statues, they look more like Angels now," Octavian commented, staring at the statues below, now with more facial features and sprouting wings.

"They're draining the power from the ship by feeding on the radiation pouring out of the wreckage," Evy explained, "Using it to restore themselves. They'll be a full fledge army within an hour."

The indentation opened up to reveal the inside of the ship just as the lights around them stared going out.

"They're taking out the lights," the Doctor said, "Look at them, look at the Angels. Into the ship, now, quickly all of you!"

He motioned Evy forward and nudged her into the hole, slipping in after her.

"But how?" Amy called, "Doctor!" she peered into the hole to see the Doctor standing straight up.

"It's just a corridor," he told her, "The gravity orientates to the floor. Now, in here, all of you, don't take your eyes off the Angels. Move, move, move!"

Evy walked over to a keypad, sonicing it as Amy, River, and the clerics came through the portal.

"Ok, men, go, go, go!" Octavian called, joining them, "The Angels, presumably they can jump up too?"

The door sealed behind them.

"They're here," the Doctor said, "Now. In the dark, we're finished. Run!"

A large door behind them closed, blocking their only escape

"This whole place is a death trap!" Octavian shouted.

"No, it's a time bomb. Well, it's a death trap and a time bomb. And now it's a dead end. Nobody panic."

There was a banging on the door that led to the cavern…the Angels were trying to break in.

"What's through here?" Evy asked, looking at the larger door that had sealed before them.

"Secondary flight deck," River replied.

"Ok," Amy nodded, "So we've basically run up the inside of a chimney, yeah? So what if the gravity fails?"

River ran over to a panel on the wall, trying to bypass the power.

"I've thought about that," the Doctor admitted.

"And?"

"And we'll all plunge to our deaths. See. I've thought about it."

"The security protocols...they're still live," Evy commented, looking at another panel, "It'll be impossible to override them..."

"How impossible?" River asked.

"Two minutes?" Evy looked up at the Doctor who nodded. She got to work, pulling out wires and sonicing.

There was a hum as the engines began to power down a moment, the portal opened and they could see the cavern outside.

"The hull is breached and the power's failing," Octavian stated.

The lights went out for an instant and an Angel's arm could be seen through the portal.

"Sir!" a cleric called, "Incoming!"

"Doctor!" River shouted, "Lights!"

The Doctor rushed over to River, sonicing a panel, the lights came on and they could see an Angel making its way inside. The lights flickered again and now four Angels were inside the corridor with them.

"Clerics, keep watching them," Octavian ordered.

"And don't look at their eyes," the Doctor reminded them, "Anywhere else. Not the eyes. I've isolated the lighting grid. They can't drain the power now."

"Good work, Doctor."

' _Doctor…problem,_ ' Evy called in his mind. He knelt beside her and looked at the controls…there was only one way to open the door.

"Yes," he nodded, "Good. Good in many ways, good you like it so far..."

"So far?" Octavian frowned.

"The only way to open the door," Evy began, "Is to route all the power from this section through the door control."

"Good, fine, do it."

"That includes the lights Bishop. _All_ of them. Meaning the lights will go out."

"How long for?"

The Doctor and Evy shared a look before he turned to them, "Fraction of a second, maybe longer. Maybe quite a bit longer."

"Maybe?"

"We're guessing here! We're being attacked by statues in a crashed ship, there isn't a manual for this!"

' _Calm down,_ ' Evy called to him silently as she continued working, feeling him getting worked up, getting scared, mostly that there were only four clerics between four Weeping Angels and her. He took a breath, nodding.

"Doctor, we lost the torches," Amy said, "We'll be in total darkness."

"No other way," he sighed, turning to Octavian, "Bishop?"

"Dr. Song, I've lost good clerics today," Octavian turned to River, "You trust this man?"

"I absolutely trust him," River nodded.

"He's not some kind of madman then?" Octavian continued.

River hesitated a moment, "I absolutely trust him," Octavian didn't look pleased, "But I trust Evy as well," Evy looked over at her at that, "And the two of them together…" she shook her head, "They can't be beaten. If they say it's the only way, it's the only way."

Evy nodded and got back to work on the door, the Doctor helping her.

Octavian stepped over to River, speaking quietly to her, "I'm taking your word, because you're the _only_ reason those two are even here. But that only works so long as Evy doesn't know who you are, 'cos without her the Doctor certainly wouldn't help. You cost me any more men, and I might just tell them both. Understood?"

"Understood," River nodded.

Octavian gave her a brief nod and turned back to the Doctor and Evy, "We've got your backs."

"Bless you," the Doctor grinned as Evy put two circuits with wires on the door, "Bishop."

Octavian turned to the clerics, "Combat distance, ten feet. As soon as the lights go down, continuous fire. Full spread over the hostiles. Do not stop firing while the lights are out. Shot gun protocol, we don't have bullets to waste."

"Amy," the Doctor moved Amy over to a wheel on the door, "When the lights go down, the wheel should release. Spin it clockwise, four turns."

"Ten," Amy nodded.

"No, four," Evy turned to look at her, "Four turns."

"Yeah, four, I heard you."

The Time Lords glanced at each other before turning back to their work. Evy stood near where the door would open, the Doctor by the control panel.

"Ready!" the Doctor called, placing his sonic on the panel.

"On my count then," Octavian swallowed, "God be with us all. Three...two...one!" the lights went out, "Fire!"

The clerics opened fire on the Angels as the Doctor soniced the door. River and Amy tried to pry the door open as Evy stood by the wall, ready.

"Turn!" the Doctor shouted.

"Quickly!" River urged.

"It's opening, it's working!" Amy called.

The door opened and Evy, River, and Amy slipped through.

Evy immediately tore open a control panel on the side of the wall and soniced it, "Ready!"

"Fall back!" Octavian called from the other side of the door.

The clerics moved through, followed by Octavian and the Doctor. As soon as the Doctor was through, Evy stopped sonicing, the door slid shut.

They ran down a similar corridor to another sealed door. The Doctor soniced a higher panel, opening it. The others slipped through, Evy sonicing the controls from the other side.

"Doctor, quickly!" River called.

"Doctor!" Amy shouted.

"I'm holding it!" Evy added.

The Doctor stopped sonicing, running through the door, then Evy stopped sonicing and the door slid shut behind him just like before. He rushed over to her, giving her a quick peck, "Thanks love."

They ran into the room to see it was a flight deck in disrepair, exposed wires all over the console. The Doctor and Evy ran over to one of the controls while River looked at the other.

"Doctor!" Amy shouted as the hatch locked and the wheels on the center door started to spin, the Angels trying to break through. Octavian ran forward placing a device on it, "What are you doing?"

"Magnetized the door," Octavian replied as the wheel stopped, "Nothing could turn that wheel now."

"Yeah?" Evy breathed, not underestimating the Angels.

"Dear God!" Octavian gasped, seeing the wheel start turning again, though slower than before.

"Ah, now you're getting it!" the Doctor said, "You've bought us time though, that's good. We are good with time."

"Doctor!" Amy called again as another wheel on another door began to spin.

"Seal that door," Octavian shouted, "Seal it now!" and another cleric placed a magnetic device on the second floor.

"We're surrounded!" River looked at the third door which also began to spin.

"Seal it, seal that door," Octavian ordered, and it was sealed too, "How long have we got?"

"At the most?" Evy shrugged, "Five minutes."

"Nine," Amy said.

The Doctor looked over at her, "Five."

"Five, right yeah."

"Then why did you say nine?" Evy asked her.

"I didn't."

' _Doctor, there's something wrong with Amy_ ,' Evy glanced at him, ' _The Angel must have done something more to her when she looked at it._ '

' _But what?_ ' he asked

"We need another way out of here," River cut in.

"There isn't one," Octavian looked around.

"Yeah, there is, course there is," the Doctor countered, "This is a galaxy class ship, goes for years between planet-falls. So…" he snapped his fingers, "What do they need?"

"Of course!" River breathed as Evy nodded and smiled at her.

"Of course, what?" Amy asked, "What do they need?"

"Can we get in there?" Octavian asked.

"It's a sealed unit, they had to have installed it somehow," Evy remarked, looking at the wall behind them.

"This whole wall should slide up," the Doctor tried pressing the walls.

"Clamps!" Evy shouted, spotting them, "We have to release the clamps!" she and the Doctor pulled out their sonics and got to work unlocking the clamps.

"What's through there?" Amy asked, "What do they need?"

"They need to breathe," River told her. The wall slowly rose as Evy and the Doctor smiled.

"But that's..." Amy blinked, awestruck at the sight before her, "That's a..."

"It's an oxygen factory," River looked at the lush forest-looking area just beyond the wall.

"It's a forest."

"Yeah, it's a forest, it's an oxygen factory."

"And an escape route," Evy added, "If we're lucky."

"Eight," Amy agreed.

"What did you say?" River frowned.

"Nothing."

"Is there another exit?" the Doctor looked over at Octavian, "Scan the architecture, we don't have time to get lost in there."

"On it!" Octavian stepped into the forest and began to scan, "Stay where you are until I've checked the rad levels."

"But trees!" Amy exclaimed, "On a spaceship?"

"Oh, more than trees, way better than trees," the Doctor said as Evy stepped over to a tree and flashed it with her sonic, looking for something, "You're going to love this."

"Tree _borgs_..." Evy opened a section of the peat moss to reveal circuitry, "Trees infused with technology. Branches become cables which become sensors on the hull."

"A forest sucking in starlight, breathing out air," he looked around the forest, impressed, "It even _rains_. There's a whole mini-climate. It is an eco-pod running through the heart of the ship. A forest in a bottle, on a spaceship, in a maze," he looked over at Amy, "Have we impressed you yet, Amy Pond?"

Amy laughed, "Seven."

"Seven?" Evy frowned as she and the Doctor made their way back into the flight deck.

"Sorry, what?"

"You said 'seven,'" the Doctor repeated, studying her face.

"No, I didn't."

"Yes, you did," River eyed her, concerned as well.

"Doctor!" Octavian called, running back, "There's an exit, far end of the ship, into the Primary Flight Deck."

"Good, that's where we need to go," the Doctor said.

"Plotting a safe path," Octavian turned back to his scans.

"Quick as you like!" he called back, examining Amy again.

"Doctor?" Bob came over the comm., "Excuse me. Hello, Doctor? Angel Bob here, sir."

"Ah…there you are, Angel Bob," the Doctor spoke into the comm., plopping down into a captain's chair and pulling Evy onto his lap, "How's life? Sorry, bad subject."

"The Angels are wondering what you hope to achieve."

"Achieve? We're not achieving anything. We're just hanging. It's nice in here, consoles, comfy chairs, a forest. How's things with you?"

"The Angels are feasting, sir. Soon we will be able to absorb enough power to consume this vessel, this world, and all the stars and worlds beyond."

"Well, we've got comfy chairs, did I mention?"

"We have no need of comfy chairs."

The Doctor grinned at Evy, "I made him say comfy chairs!"

"Six," Amy laughed.

Evy stood up as the Doctor got up as well, walking to look at the forest, "Ok, well, enough chat. Here's what we want to know, what have you done to Amy?"

"There is something in her eye," Bob replied.

"What's in her eye?"

"We are."

"What's he talking about?" Amy frowned, "I'm five," everyone stared at her and she seemed to realize what she'd said, "I mean, five. Fine! I'm _fine_."

"You're counting," River said slowly.

"Counting?"

"You're counting down," Evy reached out and took her hands, trying to tell her calmly what was happening, "From ten. You've been doing it for the last few minutes."

"Why?"

"We don't know."

"Well, counting down to what?"

"We don't know."

"We shall take her," Bob called out, "We shall take all of you. We shall have dominion over all time and space."

"Get a life, Bob," the Doctor retorted, "Oops, sorry again. There's power on this ship, but nowhere near that much."

"With respect, sir, there is more power on this ship than you yet understand."

There was a loud, horrible screeching noise.

"Dear God, what _is_ it?" River looked up.

"They're back," Octavian replied.

"It's hard to put in your terms, Dr. Song, but as best I understand it, the Angels are laughing," Bob explained.

"Laughing?" the Doctor frowned.

"Because you haven't noticed yet. The Doctor and his Link in the TARDIS haven't noticed."

Evy's eyes widened as she caught sight of something, "Doctor…" she breathed, "It's the crack."

He turned to see the glowing, white crack high on the wall behind them and ran over to it, Evy as well.

"That's...that's like the crack from my bedroom wall from when I was a little girl," Amy walked over slowly.

"Yes," he agreed.

"Ok, enough, we're moving out!" Octavian ordered.

"Agreed," River turned to face them, "Doctor? Evy?"

"Yeah," the Doctor waved them off, "Fine!" he pulled out his sonic, flashing the crack as Evy stood beside him and looked up at it.

"What are you doing?"

"We'll be right there," Evy called.

"We're not leaving without you!"

"Yes you are," the Doctor glanced back at them, "Bishop?"

"Miss Pond, Dr. Song, now!" Octavian called. River sighed and took Amy's arm, pulling her back to the forest, Amy calling after them.

"So, what are you?" the Doctor pulled the sonic away, looking at the readings, before glancing at Evy, "Oh, that's bad. Ah, that's extremely very not good," he pressed his ear against the wall when Evy laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Do not blink," she breathed.

He turned slowly to see her staring at a group of Angels that had surrounded them. He took her hand and they climbed over the controls, trying to get past the Angels while keeping their eyes on them…only for the Doctor to be grabbed by the back of his jacket collar and Evy on her arm.

They waited a moment, but the Angels didn't do anything.

"So...why aren't we dead?" Evy glanced over at him, seeing a group of Angels by the wall, their arms raised above them towards the crack. She looked over at the Doctor feeding him what she'd seen.

"Good," he nodded, "And not so good. Oh, this isn't even a little bit good," he glanced at the Angels around them, "I mean, is that it? Is that the power that brought you here?" he glanced at Evy, seeing her struggling with her jacket, nodding at him as he continued to talk, "That's pure time energy, you can't feed on that. That's the power, that's the fire at the end of the Universe. I'll tell you something else..."

There was a loud rumbling.

"Never let him talk!" Evy shouted as they pulled themselves out of their jackets and ran, hand-in-hand, into the forest, leaving their coats behind.

They ran as fast as they could, reaching the clerics standing around with Amy curled up on a rock, River examining her. They walked up as River was speaking to Octavian.

"…when the Doctor and Evy are in the room, your only mission is to keep them alive long enough to get everyone else home. And trust me. It's not easy to keep that man alive. How on Earth Evy manages to do it on a daily basis I will never know. Now, if they are dead back there, I'll never forgive myself, and if they're alive, I'll never forgive them. And...you and Evy are standing right behind me, aren't you?"

"Oh, yeah," the Doctor smiled.

She turned around to face them, "I hate you!"

"No you don't," Evy countered knowingly before jumping off a log and going over to Amy's side.

"Bishop, the Angels are in the forest," the Doctor warned him before joining Evy.

"We need visual contact on every line of approach," Octavian called to his clerics.

"How did you get past them?" River asked them.

"Found a crack in the wall and told them it was the end of the Universe," the Doctor said.

"What was it?" Amy asked.

"The…um…end of the Universe," Evy answered.

"Let's have a look then!" the Doctor reached out and grabbed the med-scanner in River's hands.

"So…what's wrong with me?" Amy swallowed.

"Nothing," River told her, "You're fine."

"Everything," the Doctor countered, "You're dying."

"Doctor!" River shouted.

"Ow!" he winced as Evy smacked him behind the head, "It's not like if we lie to her, she'll get all better!"

"You didn't have to say it like _that_ ," Evy argued, nodding down at Amy who was now crying.

"Oh…right," he seemed a bit ashamed that he'd said it in so blunt a way, "Amy! Amy. What's the matter with Amelia? Something's in her eye. What does that mean? Doesn't mean anything."

"Doctor…" Amy began.

"Busy."

"Scared!"

"Course, you're dying, shut up!"

"Ok, let him think," River soothed, squeezing Amy's shoulder.

"What happened?" he stood up and began pacing, "She stared at the Angel."

"She looked into the eyes of an Angel for too long…" Evy added, thinking.

"Sir!" a cleric shouted, "Angel, incoming!"

An Angel appeared behind a tree.

"And here," a second cleric called.

"Keep visual contact, do not let it move!" Octavian ordered.

"Come on, come on," the Doctor slapped the side of his head. Evy jumped to her feet and grabbed his hands. He squeezed them and looked at Evy, "She watched an Angel climb out of the screen. She stared at the Angel and…and..."

"The image of an Angel is an Angel," Evy replied, "A living image in a human mind."

"We stare at them to stop them getting closer, we don't even blink and that's exactly what they want," he realized, "'Cos as long as our eyes are open, they can climb inside."

"There's an Angel in her mind…" Evy breathed.

"Three," Amy said, "It's coming. I can feel it. I'm going to die!"

"Please just shut up, we're thinking," the Doctor told her, turning back to Evy, knowing that, between the two of them, they could work it out, "Now counting, what's that about?"

Evy grabbed the comm., "Bob, why are the Angels making Amy count?"

"To make her afraid, ma'am," Bob replied.

"Why? What for?"

"For fun."

Evy dropped her arm, letting the comm. fall to the ground, horrified…those Angels were evil.

"Evy, what's happening to me?" Amy asked, "Doctor, explain!"

Evy knelt next to her, putting a hand over Amy's, "There's an Angel trapped in the vision centers of your brain."

"It's like there's a screen," the Doctor added, "A virtual screen inside your mind, and the Angel is climbing out of it, and it's coming to shut you off."

"Then what do I do?" Amy swallowed.

He started pacing again, "If it was a real screen, what would we do, we'd pull the plug. But we can't just knock her out, the Angel would take over!"

"Then what?" River looked up at him, "Quickly!"

"We need to shut down just the vision centers of her brain," Evy replied.

"We've got to pull the plug, starve the Angel," the Doctor nodded.

River looked at the scanner, "She's got seconds."

"Amy, close your eyes!" Evy shouted suddenly.

"No, no, I don't want to," Amy shook her head.

The Doctor's eyes widened, realizing Evy's plan and knelt beside Amy as well, "Good, because that's not you, that's the Angel inside you, it's afraid! Do it! Close your eyes!"

Amy hesitated a moment before closing her eyes. The scanner beeped and then returned to normal, "She's normalizing," River sighed, looking up at Evy with a smile, "You did it! You did it!"

"Brilliant," the Doctor said, kissing her quickly.

"Sir?" a cleric called, "Two more incoming."

"Three more over here," a second cleric said.

River put away her scanner, helping Amy sit up, "Still weak, dangerous to move her."

"So, can I open my eyes now?" Amy asked.

The Doctor sighed, running a hand through his hair before standing up and looking around before back to Amy, "Amy, listen to me. If you open your eyes now for more than a second, you will die. The Angel is still inside you. We haven't stopped it, we've just sort of...paused it. You've used up your countdown. You cannot open your eyes."

Amy stiffened, absolutely terrified.

Evy frowned, she knew the Doctor could be a bit over reactive at times, exaggerating as well, but now was not one of them. And now Amy was scared and frantic, knowing there was an Angel living in her mind that she couldn't fight. The human mind, so fragile…

Without warning Evy crouched down before Amy and butted heads with her.

She fell back with a groan, her eyes snapping shut.

Amy fell back with a gasp, her eyes flying open but nothing happening, she looked around, frantic, "What happened?"

The Doctor was knelt at Evy's side, helping her sit up, a frown on his face, "Why did you _do_ that?" he asked her, holding her head between his hands. He could already feel Evy building walls in her mind, trying to contain the Angel, to starve it more than a simple human mind could by just shutting their eyes. He knew she was also doing it to keep the Angel from infecting him as well through their Link.

"I had a better chance," Evy replied, her face scrunched as she focused on creating a cell for the Angel.

He frowned, "You stupid, stupid girl."

"I'm _your_ Link," Evy grinned at him, "And _you're_ an _idiot_."

He shook his head at her.

"Doctor?" Amy called, wanting answers, "What happened? Why am I not dead?"

River frowned, realizing what had happened, "She's pulled the Angel from your head and into hers."

"It's in her now?" Amy's eyes widened in shock. She knew that Evy could read minds, Evy had told her herself, but she hadn't thought that the girl could do something like that, pull something from her mind. Though this was probably a special situation.

"Doctor, we're too exposed here," Octavian said, glancing around at the Angels hiding behind a few trees, "We have to move on."

"We're exposed everywhere," he muttered before he looked around at the group, "We can't risk moving Evy and breaking her focus…and anyway, that's not the plan."

"There's a plan?" River asked.

"Clearly not," Evy replied, jokingly turning her head towards River's voice, "And I thought you knew the Doctor?"

River smiled and shook her head even though Evy couldn't see it.

"I don't know yet," the Doctor stated, ignoring Evy's words, "I haven't finished talking."

Evy sighed, "You go and figure out what to do," she told him, "Leave a soldier or two and I'll stay here," she reached out, taking the Doctor's hand in her own, instinctively knowing where it was, "I'll be fine."

He looked at her hard for a moment, clearly not liking the idea of leaving her alone and defenseless, but there was little he could do. He spun around to face the clerics, "Right! Father, you and your clerics will stay here, look after Evy. If anything happens to her…and I mean _anything_ ," he began seriously, "I'll hold _each_ of you _personally_ responsible, _twice_ , and I guarantee you, the Angels will be the _least_ of your worries compared to _me_ ," the clerics actually looked quite scared at the coldness and threat in his voice. But then the Doctor grinned and turned to River, "River, Amy, you two and me, we're going to find the Primary Flight Deck which is..."

"Did he just lick his finger and hold it up?" Evy asked as the Doctor did just that. She was amused despite the Angel trying to fight her in her mind.

"Yes I did," he answered her, "And a quarter mile straight ahead," he knelt down before her, "We'll stabilize the wreckage, stop the Angels, and cure you."

"How?" Amy called.

"I'll do a thing," he answered, not looking away from Evy, practically waving her off.

"What thing?"

"I don't know," he snapped, "It's a thing in progress. Respect the thing!"

Evy reached out and placed a hand on his arm, he was _very_ angry right now and it was all directed not at her, but at Amy. He was blaming her for the Angel being in his Link's mind, and she would be damned if she let him blame her actions on someone else.

He sighed, sensing her thoughts, but he couldn't help it. His Link was in danger and his instinct was to lash out at the thing that put her in that situation…even if it was a friend, "I'll find a way," he promised her softly.

"You don't have to tell me," she smiled reassuringly, "I have faith in you Doctor."

He smiled at her, brushing a strand of hair from her face. He leaned forward...

"That won't get the Angel out of my mind," she said, sensing him near her mouth, thinking back to the time she'd pulled the star out of him.

"I know," he reassured her, before kissing her deeply, pouring his promise that she _would_ be alright into it. He pulled back moments later, leaving the both of them breathless. He kissed her forehead for good measure before standing, "Moving out!"

Octavian stepped forward, "Doctor, I'm coming with you. My clerics can look after Evy. These are my best men, they'd lay down their lives in her protection."

"I don't need you."

"I don't care. Where Dr. Song goes, I go."

"What?" he looked over at River and then back to Octavian, "You two engaged or something?"

"Yes, in a manner of speaking. Marco, you're in charge till I get back."

"Sir!" Marco nodded as Octavian headed off with River.

The Doctor glanced at River and Octavian and to Amy and back to Evy, hesitating, not wanting to leave her, especially not like this.

"I'll be fine," Evy said, sensing his turbulent emotions, "You can't protect me on the move, I'd only be a distraction."

He sighed and walked over to her, taking her hands in his own one more time, "I'll be back for you soon as I can. I promise."

"I know," she rested her forehead against his a moment.

"I always come back," he kissed her forehead, "Like you said, I can't run from you…I can only run towards you," he took a breath before standing, "Good luck everyone. Behave. And keep watching the forest. Stop those Angels advancing. And take care of her."

"With our lives sir," Marco swore.

The Doctor nodded and walked off, striding past Amy who had waited for him. The ginger watched as he disappeared through the bushes before looking back at Evy who was sitting there, on a rock, looking far calmer than Amy ever could. She sighed, looking down as she turned to follow after the Doctor. She had only stepped past a tree or two when she nearly ran into him.

"Doctor!" she gasped, stumbling back in shock.

"Amy," he shook his head, tugging at the cuff of his coat, "You need to let go. You need to move on. You need to start trusting Evy, trusting me, trusting us, the _two_ of us, it's never been more important."

Amy swallowed and looked away, not wanting to talk about it, "Doctor, the crack in my wall, how can it be here?"

He frowned, seeing the change in topic, but let it go, "We don't know yet, but we're working it out. Now, listen. Remember what we told you when you were seven?"

"What did you tell me?"

"No, no...that's not the point. _You_ have to remember."

And with that he turned and walked off through the bushes.

"Remember what?" she called for a moment, before walking after him, "Doctor? Doctor!"

"Over here Amy!" River shouted.

Amy pushed through a bush to see the Doctor holding a device as Octavian led him and River through the forest. She frowned, seeing the Doctor sans coat, "What happened to your coat?" she asked.

"Angels took it," he replied, not looking up from the device.

"There are Angels here?" she spun around, frantic.

"We know there are Angels in the forest," River reminded her.

Amy looked at them, confused…but then there was a beeping noise from the Doctor's device.

"What's that?" River asked.

"Readings from a crack in a wall," the Doctor replied.

"Doctor, how can the crack in my wall be the end of the Universe?" Amy asked.

"Here's what I think," the Doctor snapped, annoyed that people were asking him such stupid questions when they had a job to do, "One day there'll be a very big bang, so big every moment in history, past and future, will crack!"

Amy flinched at his tone.

"Is that possible?" River asked, seemingly unperturbed by his reaction, "How?"

"How can you be engaged in a manner of speaking?" the Doctor asked, just a bit easier.

"Well...sucker for a man in uniform."

"Dr. Song is in my personal custody," Octavian walked over to them, "A contact had her released from the Stormcage Containment Facility four days ago and into my custody. I am legally responsible for her until she has accomplished her mission and earned her pardon. Just so we understand each other."

"You were in Stormcage?" the Doctor asked as the machine beeped again.

"What?" Amy asked, "What is that?"

"The date. The date of the explosion where the crack begins."

"And for those of us who can't read the base code of the Universe?" River asked.

The date shifted on the device, reading 26/06/2010.

"Amy's time," the Doctor breathed.

"My time?" Amy frowned.

"Yes _your_ time!" the Doctor turned to her, "What part of that confused you?"

Amy's eyes widened at his snap but he just strode past her, following after Octavian.

~8~

Evy sat on the rock in the middle of the forest clearing, just focusing on locking the Angel away, but also orchestrating a bit of a twist on the situation…there was no way she was going to let the Angel lie about in her mind without using it to its full potential.

"The Angels are still grouping," Marco called, having taken it upon himself to alert her to the goings on while she sat there. He glanced at another cleric, "Are you getting this too?"

The lights started to flicker.

"The trees?" a third cleric spoke, "Yeah."

"Here too, sir," a second cleric agreed, "They're ripping the Treeborgs apart."

"Not just that," Evy replied, "They're not just taking out the lights, they're feeding on the power of it as well."

"How do you know the lights are going out?" Marco called.

"The Angel trapped in my mind. I was very careful to tap into its mind as well. The Angels have a shared mind, I can see their plans as well."

"And? What are they planning."

"Just be ready. They're going to use the flickering to advance."

And so they did.

~8~

Amy was standing against the outside of the Primary Flight Deck, hugging herself, as Octavian looked for a way in and River stood guard. The Doctor, who had yet to even look at her properly, was going over some other readings on the device.

"It doesn't open it from here, but it's the Primary Flight Deck," Octavian said, "This has got to be a service hatch or something."

"Hurry up and open it, time's running out," River replied.

"What?" the Doctor looked up, "What did you say? Time's running out, is that what you said?"

"Yeah. I just meant..."

"I know what you meant," he snapped, "Hush! But what if it could?"

"What if what could?"

"Time. What if time could run out?"

"Got it!" Octavian called.

~8~

"Angels advancing, sir," the third cleric called out.

"Over here, again," the second one added.

"Weapons primed," Marco ordered, "Combat distance five feet. Wait for it!" Evy tensed, sensing the Angel struggling in her mind to get out the closer the Angels came, "Keep your position and, ma'am, keep your eyes shut!"

"Yes, I know," Evy grumbled. She wasn't some human who needed to rely on just her sight. She was well aware of what was going on via her other senses.

"Wait!" Marco called as a bright light appeared behind them and spread, "The ship's not on fire, is it?"

"It can't be," a second cleric argued, "The compressors would have taken care of it."

"The Angels are gone!" Evy shouted, standing up, startled.

The soldiers shifted, looking around, "Where'd they go?"

"This side's clear too, sir," the third cleric reported.

"They've gone to the light," Evy replied, turning to face the direction of the light. She didn't need to see it to know it was there. A crack in time that big, big enough to draw away the Angels, she could just sense.

"There's still movement out there, but away from us now," Marco agreed, checking his device, "Phillip, Crispin, need to get a closer look at that..."

"No don't!" Evy shouted.

But the clerics ignored her, heading towards the light.

~8~

"Cracks in time, time running out..." the Doctor muttered, "No, couldn't be. How is a duck pond a duck pond if there aren't any ducks? And she didn't recognize the Daleks! Ok, time can shift. Time can change. Time can be rewritten. Ah! Oh!" he rubbed his head in pain, "I wish Evy were here…she could figure this out…"

River watched him, concerned as he grew more irritable and tense, before ushering Amy inside. In this state of mind, the Doctor was bound to lash out much worse than he had been…Amy didn't deserve that…

~8~

"It's like, I don't know...a curtain of energy, sort of shifting," Marco tried to describe the crack to Evy, "Makes you feel weird, sick."

"It's like the crack in the wall of the ship, but bigger?" Evy suggested.

"Yeah. Scared them pretty bad."

"What could scare those things?" the second cleric asked.

"That crack," she warned them, "Is a separation of space and time that isn't meant to be torn. The energy in there is dangerous. You shouldn't have sent the other two out there."

"What other two?" Marco asked," I didn't send anyone out there."

"Marco, you want me to get a closer look at that?" the second cleric asked, seeing the sense in investigating.

Marco nodded, "But don't get too close. She says it's dangerous, it's dangerous."

"No!" Evy shouted, "You can't. Before, you sent Crispin and Phillip to go look and now they're gone."

"Crispin and who?"

Evy frowned…they'd been absorbed by the light…and now another cleric was headed towards it.

~8~

"Dr. Song, get through, now," Octavian ordered, helping River through the hatch and turning to the Doctor, "Doctor? Doctor?"

He watched, concerned, as the Doctor did calculations in the air, "Time can be _un_ written…" he mumbled.

~8~

"Ma'am, there never was a Crispin or a Phillip on this mission, I promise you," Marco said.

"Right…" Evy nodded slowly, of course he wouldn't remember. The crack, it wasn't just space and time, it wasn't just the end of the Universe, it was also leaking time energy…enough to erase anyone who got caught in it from existence. Crispin and Phillip had never been born. She swallowed hard, knowing she was going to regret this, "And how's Pedro doing?"

"Pedro?"

"Never mind."

This was _not_ good.

~8~

"It's been happening and we haven't even noticed!" the Doctor shook his head, realization on the horizon.

"Doctor, we've have to move," Octavian stepped up.

"The CyberKing! A giant Cyberman walks over all of Victorian London and no one remembers."

"We have to move it!" Octavian called, "The Angels could be here any second," he put a hand on the Doctor's shoulder, but he shrugged it off.

"Never mind the Angels. There's worse here than Angels!"

The lights went out and the Doctor spun around to see an Angel had its arm around Octavian's neck, "I beg to differ, sir."

He flashed the Angel with the sonic, "Let him go."

"Well, it can't let me go, sir, not while you're looking at it."

"I can't _stop_ looking at it, it'll kill you."

"It'll kill me anyway. There's no way out of this. You have to leave me!"

"Can't you wriggle out?"

"No. It's too tight. There's nothing you can do."

~8~

"Listen, ma'am," Marco said after a moment, "I need to get a closer look at that light, whatever it is. Don't worry, I won't get too close."

"No, Marco," Evy grabbed his arm as she felt him step past her, "You don't understand. That crack bleeds time energy, you get caught and you won't exist. You won't be born. It's why you don't remember Pedro or Crispin or Phillip, they were never born."

"There was no Pedro, Crispin, or Phillip," he said softly, fearing she had lost her mind, "Here, spare communicator…" he pressed it into her hand, "I'll stay in touch the whole time."

"Yeah, right," she scoffed.

"Two minutes, I promise," and then he left.

Evy's shoulders sagged as she was left alone.

~8~

"Sir, there's nothing you can do," Octavian argued.

"You're dead if I leave you," the Doctor said.

"Yes, yes, I'm dead. And before you go..."

"I'm not going!"

"Listen to me. It's important! You can't trust her."

"Trust who?"

"River Song. You think you know her, but you don't. You don't understand who or what she is."

"Then tell me."

"I've told you more than I should. Now, please, you have to go. It's your duty to your friends, to your Link."

The Doctor swallowed hard at that, Evy…

"Just tell me why she was in Stormcage?" he asked.

"She killed a man, a good man, a hero to many. Nearly killed someone else as well before she stopped."

"Who?" he frowned, already fearing and guessing the answer.

"You don't want to know, sir. You _really_ don't."

"Who did she kill?"

"Sir, the Angels are coming. You have to leave me."

"You'll die."

"I will die in the knowledge that my courage did not desert me at the end. For that, I thank God and bless the path that takes you to safety and back to your Link."

The Doctor smiled softly at that, "I wish I'd known you better."

"I think, sir, you know me at my best."

"Ready?" the Doctor took a breath.

Octavian closed his eyes, "Content."

The Doctor nodded and made a mad dash for the hatch, climbing through and closing it behind him. He stood up quickly to find himself in the Primary Flight Deck, River at the controls with Amy standing beside her. He stalked over to a second control panel.

"There's a teleport!" River told him, "If I can get it to work, we can beam the others here. Where's Octavian?"

"Octavian's dead, so is that teleport," he replied grimly, "You're wasting your time. I'm going to need your communicator," he didn't wait for a reply before taking it, "Evy?" he called into it, not wanting to speak to her in her mind and distract her efforts to continue to trap the Angel, "Are you there? Are you alright?"

"I'm here," Evy replied, he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Where are you? Are the clerics with you?"

"No. They've gone."

His jaw tensed, "I'll kill them."

"Too late. They all went to examine the crack. Doctor…it's bleeding time energy, there's no memory of them left to kill."

"What?" River asked, "What is that light?"

"Time running out," he sighed, closing his eyes tightly as he spoke into the comm., "Evy _…_ I'm sorry. I'm _so_ sorry. I should _never_ have left you there."

"It's alright," Evy told him, "I'll find a way to get back to you. You're not the only one who can't run."

He smiled softly at her promise, "We're in the Primary Flight Deck, other end of the forest."

"Well…I can't see so you'll need to send me some clues to help me there. You'll have to sonic the communicators from your end to get me to that point."

"Turn on the spot," he called to her as he soniced the comm., "When the communicator sounds like my screwdriver, you're facing the right way. Follow the sound," he listened as the whirring sound on the communicators rang faster till it sounded just like the sonic.

"Perfect!" she called.

"Evy…you have to start moving now," he half begged, "You _have_ to stay ahead of the time energy."

"On my way."

"Just keep moving," he whispered. His hearts were beating rapidly, his veins felt like they were coursing ice water as he listened intently to the comm., he was terrified.

"What about the Angels?" Amy asked.

"The Angels can only kill her," he swallowed hard, his hands clenching around the communicator, "But the time energy…"

"What does the time energy do?"

"If the time energy catches up with her," he began, forcing himself not to look at Amy, unsure of how his temper would react, "She'll _never_ have been _born_ ," Amy gasped, "It will erase every moment of her existence. She will _never_ have lived at all. And let me tell you something, Amelia Pond," he glared at her, "If she gets caught by the time energy, I will _never_ forgive you!"

"It's never going to work," River told him.

"What else have you got?" he shouted at her, turning all his fury on both her and Amy, "River, tell me! Huh? Amy? Nothing? That's what I thought! Humans!"

"Hey, hey, hey," Evy's voice spoke gently over the communicator, the Doctor had been clutching it so tightly he'd been holding it on, "Shh…Doctor, everything will be fine," he just turned away from River and a startled, tearful Amy, to lean against the controls, "Trust me, we _can_ do this, I'll be _fine_. In no time at all, I'll be back with you, in the flight deck, in your arms, again," he let out a shuddering breath, as though he were barely holding back a sob, and pressed the communicator to his forehead as though it were Evy's head he were resting it against, "And we'll be off in the TARDIS," she laughed, "Remember? Angels are nothing compared to what I'm coming home to."

The Doctor smiled to himself, recognizing the words they'd used to the scared passengers when they'd gotten stuck on San Helios in that bus.

~8~

River walked over to Amy who was sitting down against the wall, her knees pulled to her chest, arms around them as she sniffled, trying not to cry at the Doctor's harsh words or fierce glares.

"Hey," River sat down next to her.

"Why's he being like this?" Amy asked her.

River sighed, "It's a natural reaction for Time Lords and Ladies, especially when their Link is in danger. They just…lash out at whatever they perceive as the thing that put them in danger. For him…" she nodded up at the Doctor, "That's you. Because the Angel was in _your_ head, and now it's in Evy's. He can't see that it was Evy that did it, only that it happened because of _you_."

Amy was silent, absorbing that.

"There was one time…" River began, her eye on the Doctor to make sure he wouldn't hear her, "Evy was in danger and the Doctor thought it was my fault. He wouldn't even _talk_ to me…and the _look_ on his face…" she trailed, "It actually gave me nightmares. It wasn't till Evy came back, and he saw she was safe and sound, that he started to act like himself again. I had no idea what was going on or why he'd been like that. I actually considered not going on adventures with him, till Evy sat me down and explained it to me. He felt bad afterwards and apologized, but it won't ever stop him from reacting like that if she's in danger."

River patted Amy's knee before pushing herself up and getting back to the teleporter.

~8~

The Doctor wiped his eyes quickly on his sleeve and pressed his sonic to the communicator again, "I'm sending a bit of software to your communicator. It's a proximity detector. It'll…"

"Beep if something's in my way," Evy finished, "I just maneuver till the beeping stops."

"Yeah," he said softly, before looking at the shield of the ship where a clanging had sounded, "And Evy…the forest is full of Angels."

"So I'll walk like I can see."

The Doctor smiled a bit more, "That's my girl."

"That time energy," River asked, seeing he was in a bit of a better mood after speaking to Evy, "What's it going to do?"

"Keep eating."

"How do we stop it?"

"Feed it."

"Feed it what?"

"A big, complicated, space-time event should shut it up for a while."

"Like what, for instance?"

"Like _me_ , for instance!" he shouted once more, getting frustrated, he was trying to listen for the detector on the comm., "If it'll keep Evy safe, I'll do it!"

River glared at him, heading back to the teleport, "You _can't_ do that to Evy, it would _destroy_ her."

"Last resort," he muttered to himself.

There was a high-pitched beeping from the communicator.

"What's that?" Evy asked.

"It's a warning," he turned back to the communicator, tensing, "There are Angels round you now. This is going to be hard but I know you can do it."

"The Angels are scared. I've been monitoring them through the one in my mind…they're running. They're not interested in _me_. They'll assume I can see them and their instincts should kick in. All I have to do is walk like I can see."

He shut his eyes, "Just don't open your eyes. You can do this. You can do this…" he kept murmuring it over and over as if he were trying to convince himself more than her.

"Doctor," Evy's voice cut through his repetitions, "Your lack of faith in me is disturbing."

He smiled to himself, listening intently as the communicator beeped quickly, then slow, then fast, then slow…his hearts were beating rapidly again…every time the speed increased.

Suddenly they heard a grunt as Evy fell to the ground.

"Evy!" he shouted, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. But I can't feel the communicator around me…it's too far away to reach…if I try to find it, the Angels will realize I can't see them...and if I try to get up..."

"And walk into one of them…" the Doctor finished, before smacking his head, "Think, think, think!"

"I've got it!" River shouted.

He ran over to the panel, looking down at her work, "How'd you _do_ that?

"Evy taught me more than just how to trick you Doctor," River smiled.

"Brilliant!"

~8~

Suddenly Evy felt herself being sucked from the forest floor and deposited on cold metal. She fell into a pair of strong arms and her lips immediately sought another pair, kissing furiously. She pulled away, very satisfied with the Doctor's current stunned state and blank thoughts. But it lasted only a moment before his brain kicked into gear again.

"How did you know it was me?" he asked her, helping her to stand.

"As though you would let anyone else save me," she smiled at him.

He laughed. River _had_ been about to teleport her here but he'd nudged her out of the way and done it himself. She knew him so well.

"Welcome to the Flight Deck," River said, stepping up to help Evy, "Amy's here as well…" Amy ran forward before River could even finish speaking, hugging the other woman despite the semi-angry look the Doctor was giving her.

"I'm so glad you're alright," Amy whispered to the girl, before pulling away.

Before anyone could say anything else an alarm suddenly blared.

"What's that?" River looked around.

"The Angels are draining the last of the ship's power, which means...the shield's going to release!" the Doctor said, putting his arm around Evy and walking over to the shield as it raised, revealing the forest and a large number of Angels, "Angel Bob, I presume?" he eyed an Angel holding a communicator.

"The time field is coming," Bob said, "It will destroy our reality."

"Yeah, and look at you, all running away. What can I do for you?"

"There is a rupture in time. The Angels calculate that if you throw yourself into it, it will close and they will be saved."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Could do, could do that. But why should I? You endangered my Link."

"Your friends would also be saved. Your Link as well."

"Well, there _is_ that…"

"I've travelled in time," River stepped up, seeing him actually seeming to consider it, "I'm a complicated space/time event, too. Throw me in."

"Compared to us," Evy began, seeing the Doctor's plan, "The Angels are more complicated than you and it would take every single one of them to amount to either of us…"

"So get a grip," the Doctor finished.

"I can't let you do this," River said, actually stunned that Evy seemed to be agreeing to this.

"No, really, get a grip," Evy told her.

"Neither of you are going to die here!"

"No, we mean it," the Doctor told her meaningfully, "River, Amy, get a _grip_ ," he placed Evy's hand on a bar sticking out of one control panel.

"Oh, you genius!" River's eyes widened as she ran to Amy and pulled her over to the second command station.

"Sir, the Angels need you to sacrifice yourself now," Bob called.

"Thing is, Bob, the Angels are draining all the power from this ship, every last bit of it," the Doctor said, "And you know what? I think they've forgotten where they're standing. I think they've forgotten the _gravity_ of the situation. Or to put it another way, Angels..." he glanced over at River and Amy who were holding onto the handles of their panel, "Night-night!"

The gravity suddenly failed from the loss of power, the Doctor simply wrapping an arm around Evy, holding her close as he grabbed onto a handle himself. The deck turned on its side, the four of them hanging on for dear life as all the Angels were sucked back into the crack. There was a burst of light and the crack closed.

The backup power came on, restoring the gravity.

Evy laughed as her feet touched the floor again and the first thing she did was pull the Doctor into a kiss. When they pulled away the Doctor stroked her face, smiling as he looked into her hazel eyes, "I missed those big beautiful eyes," he remarked.

She smiled as well, "I missed seeing that handsome face."

"Your eyes are open!" Amy shouted, her eyes wide in fear and concern as she stared at Evy.

"Don't worry Amy," the Doctor replied easily, draping an arm around Evy's shoulder, "The Angels fell into the time field which means the one in her mind never existed."

"Come on," Evy said, "Let's get out of here and back to the beach."

The Doctor and Evy stepped out of the room, River and Amy watching after them.

"What did I say?" River smiled, glancing at Amy, "Back to himself yeah?"

"Yeah," Amy nodded a bit sadly, still hurt.

"Oh, Amy!" the Doctor popped his head back in, "Sorry for being so snippy with you before…you as well River. Didn't mean to yell, but well…" he cleared his throat, "Are we ok?"

Amy smiled, "Yeah," she nodded, "Yeah, we're ok."

"Always," River agreed.

"Right then," he nodded as well, "Once more unto to the beach!"

~8~

Amy was sitting on a rock on the beach, a blanket wrapped around her while Evy and the Doctor stood next to her, the Doctor's arm wrapped around Evy's waist.

"How do you feel?" Evy asked.

"Ah, bruised everywhere," Amy replied.

"Us too," the Doctor nodded.

"If all the Angels fell through the crack, why do I remember it at all?" Amy asked. She could understand the Doctor and Evy, being aliens, but her, a human? "Evy, you said those guys on the ship didn't remember each other."

"But Amy, now you're a time traveler," Evy smiled, "It'll forever change the way you see the Universe."

"Good, isn't it?" the Doctor added.

"And the crack," Amy asked, "Is that gone too?"

"Yeah, for now. But the explosion that caused it is still happening...somewhere out there, somewhere in time."

"We'll be right back," Evy said, noticing River standing against a rock.

They walked over to her and she smirked over at them, "You, me...handcuffs," she held up her encased wrists, "Must it always end this way?"

Evy's smile faded, recalling how it really _would_ end...but she shook her head out of her thoughts, "What'll happen now?"

"The prison ship's in orbit. They'll beam me up any second. I might have done enough to earn a pardon this time. We'll see."

"Octavian said you killed a man," the Doctor said, "Nearly killing someone else as well."

"Yes," she nodded slowly, "I did. A good man. A very good man. The best man I've ever known. And his wife, a remarkable woman."

"Who?" Evy asked, unable to shake the small tendril of fear that had coiled in her gut.

"It's a long story. Can't be told. It has to be lived. No sneak previews. Well, except for this one, you'll see me again quite soon, when the Pandorica opens."

"The Pandorica, ha!" the Doctor laughed, "That's a fairytale!"

"Oh, Doctor, aren't we all?" River laughed as well, "I'll see you there."

"Then we'll look forward to it," Evy smiled.

"I remember it well," River replied, nodding goodbye as they stepped back.

"Bye River," Amy walked up.

"See you Amy," River nodded, when the handcuffs beeped, "Oh! I think that's my ride."

"Can we trust you, River Song?" the Doctor asked.

"If you like, but where's the fun in that?" she laughed, teleporting away in a swirl of sand.

The Doctor sighed, turning to look at the ocean, wrapping his arm around Evy's waist once more as she leaned against him.

"What are you thinking?" Amy asked them.

"Time can be rewritten," he replied as they walked over to the TARDIS. Evy unlocked it with just a stroke of her finger, stepping in with them and heading to the console with the Doctor. They began to prepare the TARDIS for entering the Vortex as Amy sat down on the jump seat, just watching.

"Can you handle this?" Evy asked the Doctor, "I feel like I need a shower."

He laughed, "Go on!" she really was a sight, covered in dirt, twigs in her hair, grass stains on her clothes. She smiled, giving him a quick peck before running off to their room.

Amy waited till she had gone before speaking, "I want to go home."

"Ok," he said quietly.

"No, not like that!" she jumped up and walked over to the console, "I just…I just want to show you something. You're running from River. I'm running too."

' _Is that alright with you?_ ' he asked Evy.

' _Fine by me,_ ' she called back.

"Alright," he said, putting in the coordinates.

~8~

The Doctor was sitting on the edge of Amy's bed next to her, staring at her wedding gown hanging before them as Evy finished up with her shower.

"Well!" he breathed.

"Yeah," Amy nodded.

"Blimey!"

"I know. This is the same night we left, yeah?"

He checked his watch, "We've been gone five minutes."

Amy leaned over and picked up a red ring box with her engagement ring in it, "I'm getting married in the morning."

He took the box and looked at it, "Why did you leave it here?"

"Why did I leave my engagement ring when I ran away the night before my wedding?" Amy asked as though it should be obvious.

"Yeah," he nodded, curious.

Amy laughed, "You really _are_ an alien, aren't you?"

"Who's the lucky fella?"

"You met him."

"Ah, the good looking one or the other one?" he asked, miming a bit of a large nose.

"The other one," Amy replied, almost offended.

"Well, he was good too."

"Thanks," she said, waiting a moment before turning to face him, "So, do you comfort a lot of people on the night before their wedding?"

"Why would you need comforting?"

"I had a deadly Angel stuck in my head for a bit. I nearly died. And it made me think."

"Well, yes, natural," he nodded, "I think sometimes. Well, lots of times...Evy says that's not always a good thing but I tend to disa…"

"About what I want," Amy cut him off, "About _who_ I want. You know what I mean?"

"Yeah," he nodded, before shaking his head, "No."

"About _who_..." she gave him a meaningful look, "I want."

"Oh, right, yeah..." he nodded again, before shaking it, "No, still not getting it."

"Doctor, in a word, in one very simple word even you can understand..." Amy said, before practically trying to climb on top of him.

He pushed her away quickly and clambered over the rail at the foot of her bed, "You're getting married in the morning! And I've got a Link!"

Amy, undeterred, just stood and walked around her bed, "The morning's a long time away…" she pushed him back against the TARDIS, "What are we going to do about that?" she pushed one of his braces down.

"Listen to me," he pushed her back, slipping his brace back up, "I'm 907 years old. Do you understand what that means?"

"It's been a while?"

"No! No! No! I'm 907, Evy's 883, and look at us. We don't get older, we just change. You get older. We don't, and this can't _ever_ work," he pushed her away again.

"Oh, you are sweet, Doctor," Amy stepped forward, pushing him against the TARDIS again, "But I really wasn't suggesting anything quite so...long term," she leaned in and managed to place her lips on his…

"I've got a Link!" he shouted, pushing her back, wiping his mouth for good measure, completely furious at what she had done. No one except Evy was allowed to kiss him. His mind briefly flashed to what he would do if anyone tried that with Evy…he'd kill them.

"She doesn't need to know," Amy said, going in for another kiss but he ducked away from her. She turned about to try again but froze at the force of the glare he was sending her, even worse than the ones he'd given her in the flight deck.

"She's not _just_ my Link," he nearly growled at her, "She's my _life_. I will not hurt her, I will not betray her. _Ever_!"

Amy looked down, ashamed at her actions. She sighed and moved to sit back on her bed, her back to the TARDIS. The Doctor watched her a moment, his glare never fading.

"I sort of figured that," she admitted after a moment.

He took a few very deep, only _slightly_ calming, breaths, before moving to sit next to her on the bed, albeit with _much more_ space between them than before. Neither noticed the door to the TARDIS opening or Evy step out, having sensed the Doctor's panic and anger and saw what Amy had done in her mind before rushing out, but it seemed like it was under control for now.

"I just…" Amy began again, "I want someone to look at me the way you do Evy."

The Doctor frowned, "How's that?" he wasn't aware he looked at Evy in any one way.

"Like she's the most beautiful person in the world," Amy answered, she'd seen it. _Every time_ they looked at each other, that sparkle he had when he just _glanced_ at the woman. He may not see it, but everyone else did, "Like she IS your world."

The Doctor blinked. Did he really look at Evy like that all the time? Yes, his hearts told him, he did, how could he not? She really _was_ his entire world.

Evy smiled softly. She'd seen that look before on another person. She'd seen it very clearly whenever Rory looked at Amy, the girl herself just didn't see it...yet. She would have to do something about that.

"Well then," Evy said from behind them, smiling softly, all her anger at Amy trying to seduce her Link forgotten, "Why don't we find someone who does? Like this fiancé of yours?"

"Evy!" Amy shouted, standing up, and backing away from the woman, a bit frightened that she would attack her. She'd seen plenty of possessive women in her life, and if the Doctor's reaction to people around Evy and to what had happened just then was anything to go on, Evy would be _furious_ with her.

"It's alright Amy," Evy waved her off, "I'm not mad."

"You're _not_?" both she and the Doctor asked.

Evy laughed at them, "The Doctor is mine," she said simply, "I have no doubts about it," she smiled softly at the Doctor, proud that he had defended their relationship, "And I know he wouldn't betray me."

"No I wouldn't," he agreed, going over to her. He put his arms around her, pulling her to him, "Not ever."

"Neither would I. So…there's nothing to worry about."

He smiled softly at how forgiving and understanding his Link was, "Right…so, off to Amy's fiancé!" he announced, pulling a laughing Evy into the TARDIS, a still slightly shocked Amy following along just as the clock in her room ticked to midnight, June 26th.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A few notes...
> 
> Hmm...why does Octavian think the Doctor wouldn't help River without Evy's insistence that he do so? Why does Octavian think that, whatever River's done, Evy shouldn't know? I guess we'll find out...but I'll say this, that event and the one Octavian talks about while in the grip of the Angel are not the same. In this story, what Evy shouldn't know is not because of TWORS, it'll be found in Let's Kill Hitler :) Let's just say...we all know that all is well in the end of Series 6, but this particular event in LKH is one that would make anyone think River is not on the Time Lord's most-favorite list. And...what's this? There's another small change in a line given by Octavian (besides who River killed) that will have something to do with the twist in TWORS and beyond. Did you spot it?
> 
> River and handcuffs eh? I have to say, my little twist for TWORS will explain the origins of the cuffs she always seems to have :) I hope this also helped explain River in the Library. Just imagining River seeing them like this compared to how they acted in the Library, it's more obvious why River had such a hard time recognizing Evy in the Library. I mean, here the Doctor hardly leaves her side, he's terrified that she's in danger, and the way he acts when she really is in danger...vastly different to how he was in the Library wasn't he? Which reminds me, did anyone catch what new habit the Doctor has picked up whenever he sits down?
> 
> This Evy is clearly very different than her 10th incarnation. I imagine her to have regenerated into a mature, secure, confident woman whereas her 10th self was always a bit uncertain, especially about the Link, and so used to hiding parts of herself or keeping a distance. She's not jealous or angry with Amy because she is confident in the Doctor, she trusts him, and the Link is stronger than ever so she KNOWS what he feels and thinks as well. I wanted to go a different direction with Evy than the Professor (who wanted to kill Amy), this Evy is secure in the knowledge that the Doctor is hers, no matter what or who tries to get them apart it won't work. She will have lingering thoughts on this in the next chapter though, as will Amy.
> 
> And...this is just the start of things that will change in Series 5 with Evy there. One of the reasons that I created Evy was from my Academic Series, wondering what I could have done different with the Professor, namely in episodes such as this one, Amy's Choice, Hungry Earth/Cold Blood, and others. So here we'll start to see minor changes in the story.
> 
> I hope it was believable the head butt managed to take the Angel from Amy to Evy. I sort of feel like doing that, at least in The Lodger, pushed the information from a Time Lord to a human, but to do that the mind had to be open to the Time Lord. So, in a way, you could push or pull information to or from someone. Coupling that with Evy's ability to read/project/connect with the human mind, I figure she might be able to pull the Angel out. Loved the Doctor's reaction to the whole mess :)
> 
> Next chapter...Evy helps Rory get even, we learn what the bet with Casanova was, and the Doctor gets corny in a very sweet way.


	9. The Vampires of Venice (Part 1)

Rory stood in the center of his friends at his stag party, all of them cheering as a large cake was wheeled into the room, all of them knew what lie inside…or so they thought…

"Out!" the crowd cheered, "Out! Out!"

And then...the Doctor burst through the top of the cake.

The chanting stopped as the crowd looked on, stunned. Rory shook his head in disbelief as he stared at the back of the Doctor.

He turned around, smiling, as he saw Rory, "Rory! That's a relief. I thought I'd burst out of the wrong cake…again. That reminds me, there's a girl outside in a bikini. Could someone let her in, give her a jumper? Lucy. Lovely girl. Diabetic. Now, then. Rory. We need to talk about your fiancé. She tried to kiss me," everyone gasped, "Tell you what, though. You're a lucky man I bet she's a great kisser," someone dropped their glass as they all stared at the Doctor, who just now realized _exactly_ what he'd said and how it came out, "Funny how you can say something in your head and it SOUNDS fine...

"Ignore him Rory," someone else said. Everyone looked over to see a blonde woman in a black tanktop and tan pants tucked into black boots walk in, her arm around a shivering, pale woman with brown hair in a bikini who was clutching a tan jacket, obviously the blonde's, around her shoulders as she walked in, "I can almost guarantee that even in his head it makes no sense to anyone but me."

"Evy?" Rory asked, stunned to see her there as well.

Evy glanced over at the cake, raising an eyebrow at the Doctor, "I see you found the right one this time?"

"Yes," he nodded. Evy nodded, passing the stripper off to one of the men, taking back her jacket, and walked over to him. She smacked him upside the head, making him flinch, "Ow! What did I do this time?"

"You don't tell a man his fiancé tried to kiss someone else!"

"But…she _did_ ," he said slowly, confused.

Evy rolled her eyes at him and walked over to Rory. She reached out and gave him a peck on the cheek, "There we go," she patted his cheek, "All better, now they're even," she glanced over at the Doctor before linking her arm through Rory's, "Now," she led him away from his friends, "We have a surprise for you…" she pulled him towards the back door she'd entered through, the Doctor scrambling out of the cake and over to them, "Carry on!" she called over her shoulder, pulling Rory out of the room.

~8~

The Doctor was sitting in a harness seat underneath the TARDIS console, welding something not even Evy was sure what, as Amy paced around nervously, Rory staring at the TARDIS in shock. Evy just leaned against a railing, half keeping an eye on the Doctor and half watching Rory in amusement.

"The life out there, it dazzles," the Doctor was saying, "I mean, it can blind you to the things that are important. We've seen it devour relationships and plans..." Rory jumped as there was a small explosion from where the Doctor was working, "Oh! It's meant to do that."

Rory looked over at Evy who just mouthed, 'No it's not.'

"Because for one person to have seen all that. To taste the glory and then go back, it WILL tear you apart. So...we're sending you somewhere. Together."

"Whoa!" Amy stepped forward, "What, like a date?"

"Anywhere and any time you want to go," Evy nodded as the Doctor slipped out of the harness and came to join them at the console, slipping his arm around Evy's waist as he went.

"One condition, it has to be amazing," the Doctor added, "The Moulin Rouge in 1890! The first Olympic Games! Think of it as a wedding present, because, frankly, it's either this or tokens."

"Actually…it's just this," Evy cut in, "He used the last of the tokens when we went to visit the motorway of New New York."

The Doctor smiled, pressing a kiss to Evy's head, recalling that trip. He remembered it from his perspective, his last self, walking through the alleys with Martha, back to the TARDIS, seeing the back of a woman with black hair in a brown dress, green leggings, and black motor boots just stepping away from the TARDIS and disappearing through a door that led back to the motorway, leaving a stark white note taped to the TARDIS door. Now he knew it had been Evy's last incarnation. Just before they'd both had to regenerate, she'd helped him look back on all his companions, but there had been one trip he'd insisted on for her.

New New York.

He'd wanted to make sure that his earlier self would meet Evy if it was the last thing he did, which it very nearly was. And since it was Evy out and about, near the TARDIS as he and Martha approached it, _he_ wasn't technically crossing his own timeline. It was, as Evy often called it, a stretch, a huge stretch. But it worked. And now he knew exactly where he'd gotten that note from, who the woman was, and was so thankful that he _had_ waited for that call the note spoke of and met Evy.

"It's a lot to take in, isn't it?" he asked Rory, shaking himself out of his thoughts, seeing the boy's stunned expression. He stepped away from Evy and headed up the stairs, "Tiny box, huge room inside. What's that about? Let me explain."

"It's another dimension," Rory said.

"It's basically another dimen..." he began, heading down the stairs, "What?"

"After Prisoner Zero, I've been reading up on all the latest scientific theories, FTL travel, parallel Universes…"

"I like you Rory," Evy laughed, stepping up to give him a quick one-armed, side hug before moving around him to the console, "This is going to be brilliant!"

The Doctor just stared at Rory with a serious expression, disappointed, as he stepped closer to the man, "I like the bit when someone says, 'It's bigger on the inside!' I always look forward to that."

"So, this date…" Amy cut in, "I'm kind of done with running down corridors. What do you think, Rory?"

"How about somewhere..." Evy glanced at the Doctor, her hand on a lever, "Romantic?" she pulled the lever down and the TARDIS flew into motion.

Amy immediately grabbed onto the console, expecting to be thrown around, only to realize it was a smoother, still a bit bumpy, ride than when the Doctor drove. Soon enough the TARDIS landed.

The Doctor ran to the doors, Evy following, and then Amy and Rory. He threw them open to reveal a busy market place, everyone dressed in period clothes, mid 1500s.

"Venice!" the Doctor laughed, throwing out his arms wide as he stepped out.

"Venezia!" Evy laughed as well, testing out her Italian, "La Serenissima!"

"Impossible city," he turned to face Rory and Amy as they stepped out and looked around, "Preposterous city! Founded by refugees running from Attila the Hun. It was just a collection of little wooden huts in the marsh, but…" he reached out and grabbed Evy, pulling her to him as he twirled her around in a pseudo waltz, "Became one of the most powerful cities in the world. Constantly being invaded, constantly flooding...constantly...just beautiful! Oh, you gotta love Venice. And so many people did…" he dipped her, "Byron, Napoleon, Casanova…oh, that reminds me…"

He pulled Evy up and went to check his watch but she just laughed and pushed his arm down, "I aimed for the 1500s," she told him, "It's 1580 so you've still got 145 years before Casanova's even born."

"Brilliant!" he smiled, "Fantastic! Don't want to run into him," he told Amy and Rory, "I owe him a chicken."

"You owe Casanova a chicken?" Rory asked.

"Long story…" he tried to wave the question off, "We had a bet."

"Oh, no, no, no, no," Evy laughed, linking arms with the Doctor, "You are _not_ getting off _that_ easy…"

"Evy…" he pouted.

Evy just gave him a peck and turned to Rory and Amy, "Casanova bet him a chicken that he could get more _favors_ from women than he could," she nodded at the Doctor, "And this dunce thought he meant get women to do things for him like hold a door open or help him carry something, those sort of favors."

Amy and Rory looked like they were trying very hard to keep in their laughter as the Doctor just shook his head and looked down, "What happened?" Amy asked.

"Well he lost obviously," Evy replied, "But Casanova felt bad that the Doctor misunderstood and let him make another bet."

"What'd you bet that time?" Rory asked.

The Doctor mumbled something.

"He bet the TARDIS that he could find someone who _wouldn't_ fall for Casanova's charms."

"Did you find someone?" Amy looked back at the TARDIS, "Or skip town?"

"Ha ha," the Doctor remarked, "If you must know, yes I did find someone."

"Who?" Rory tilted his head.

"Me," Evy shook her head, "He presented me," she turned to half glare at the Doctor, "I _still_ can't believe you did that."

"The look on Casanova's face when he realized he'd failed was worth it though," the Doctor countered, "Wasn't it?"

"Actually…" she smirked, "I rather think it was more the look on your face when you realized that 'resisting Casanova' meant he was going to actively try to woo me was what did it for me."

"Right…" he trailed, wincing at the memory, he wasn't too fond of recalling Casanova trying to seduce his Link, "Can we…forget it for now?"

Evy smiled gently at him, seeing his resentment of the memory and stepped in front of him, draping her arms around his neck to look straight at him, "You are just lucky I love you so much," she gave him a quick peck on the lips.

He smiled at her as well, brushing a strand of her hair that was too short for her ponytail behind her ear, "Yes I am," he agreed softly, giving her a slightly deeper kiss, "Very, _very_ lucky."

Rory looked away, feeling as though he were intruding on a private moment and glanced around. He frowned when he saw Amy frowning and looking to the side, as though she didn't want to see the sight in front of her.

"Right then," Evy pulled away, her hand sliding down into the Doctor's, "We've a tour to give!"

The Doctor laughed and led them through the market towards the steps that would lead to the center of the city, when a man in official garb stepped in front of them, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! Papers, if you please. Proof of residency, current bill of medical inspection."

The Doctor held up the psychic paper for him to see, "There you go, fella…" the official took it and looked closely at it, "All to your satisfaction, I think you'll find."

The official's eyes widened as he looked around at the group before bowing to the Doctor, "I am so sorry, Your Holiness. I didn't realize."

The Doctor plucked the paper back, "No worries. You were just doing your job."

"Sorry, your job is what, exactly?" Evy cut in.

"Oh, your majesty…" the official bowed deeply again, Evy frowned and grabbed the paper from the Doctor before he could put it away. Her eyes widened as she saw he'd made her a princess of Poland. She passed the paper to Amy to look at as the official continued, "Checking for aliens, visitors from foreign lands what might bring the plague with them."

"Oh, that's nice, see where you bring me?" Amy slapped Evy's arm with the paper, "The plague!"

"Don't worry, Viscountess," the official bowed again as Amy sighed, looking down at the paper, "No, we're under quarantine here, no one comes in, no one goes out, and all because of the grace and wisdom of our patron, Signora Rosanna Calvierri," he held up a book with an intricate crest on it.

"Now that's interesting," Evy remarked, studying the crest, clearly not one of Earthly origins if you knew how to read it.

"I heard the plague died out years ago," the Doctor commented.

"Not out there," the official replied grimly, "No, Signora Calvierri has seen it with her own eyes. 'Streets are piled high with bodies,' she said."

"Did she, now?" the Doctor nodded as he linked his arm with Evy's and headed past the official, Amy and Rory following behind.

"According to this, I am your eunuch!" Rory shouted at Amy as he looked at the paper.

"Oh, yeah, I'll explain later," Amy told him as she took the paper and handed it back to the Doctor.

"Princess of Poland?" Evy asked, nodding at the paper as the Doctor put it away, "Really?"

"I know," he sighed, "I wanted to make you a queen, but it's a bit much isn't it?"

"A queen?" she laughed, "Why would you want to make _me_ a queen?"

"You already rule over my hearts," he smiled at her.

"That is corny," she told him, but her smile and her eyes told him how happy she was. Not to mention, the small kiss she bestowed upon him didn't hurt matters either, "But sweet. Very, _very_ sweet."

"What's that?" Amy called.

They looked back to see her pointing down a little alley. They walked back and saw a procession of young women in white across the water. They ran over to the canal to watch as the other citizens stopped to look as well.

"What do you want?" an older woman demanded as an older black man ran up to the women.

"Where's my Isabella?" he demanded, lifting the veils of various girls, trying to find this Isabella.

"What are you doing? Get away from there."

"Isabella!" he ignored her, continuing his search, "Isabella!" he paused at a young black female, "It's me!"

One of the other girls came forward and hissed at him. Evy frowned as she and the Doctor eyed her, able to see two pointy fangs protruding from her mouth. The man fell to the ground.

"Girls, come along!" the woman ordered as the girls continued.

As the procession began again another well dressed man put his boot on the man's chest, keeping him down. The Doctor took Evy's hand and pulled her off, they had to get across the canal and find that man. Something was going on and he seemed to sense it.

~8~

The Doctor and Evy ran along the paths, following the man as he stormed off. They ran after him, the Doctor leaping onto a staircase as the man walked through a passageway, pulling Evy up with him.

"Who were those girls?" the Doctor asked.

The man stopped and spun to face them as they leaned around the passageway, "I thought everyone knew about the Calvierri school."

"Our first day here," he stepped down with Evy.

"Parents will do anything to get their children into good schools," Evy continued as they walked over to him, "Move, switch religions, anything. So, why are you so keen to get her out?"

"Something happens in there," the man replied quietly, fear for Isabella evident in his eyes, "Something magical, something evil. My own daughter didn't recognize me. And the girl who pushed me away, her face...like an animal."

"I don't know about you," Evy remarked lightly to the Doctor, "But I'd rather like to meet this Signora Calvierri."

The Doctor smiled, nodding, as he put his arm around the man's shoulder, leading him out of the alley, a plan already forming in mind.

~8~

Guido, Isabella's father, approached the guards of the Calvierri school, "You have my daughter. Isabella!"

"You're not coming in, stop there!" one of the guards shouted as the Doctor and Evy peeked out at the scene, "We've told you..."

"You have my daughter," Guido continued as the Time Lords snuck alongside the building, just managing to slide along the edge of the canal to a gate, "Isabella! I demand you let me see my daughter."

Evy pulled out her sonic and flashed the gate, unlocking it, as the Doctor pushed it open.

"Isabella!" Guido continued to shout, "It's me! It's your father."

"I'll arrest you..." the second guard threatened.

"Isabella!" Guido shouted once more, seeing Evy and the Doctor sneak past the men and into the school. He glared at the guards once more for good measure and left.

Evy and the Doctor quickly headed down the nearest staircase they could find, not wanting to risk the guards seeing them. There was a large chamber at the bottom of the steps with a number of doors around it and a small mirror on the wall near a torch.

"Hello, handsome," the Doctor laughed, looking over at the mirror.

Evy just shook her head fondly and straightened his bow-tie as he checked his teeth.

"Who are you?" a number of voices asked at once.

They spun around to see five pale girls in white nightgowns standing there, staring at them. Evy looked back at the mirror, not seeing them. The Doctor did so as well, looking back and forth.

"How are you doing that?" she asked them, eyeing them, as the Doctor continued to look between them.

"I...am...loving it," he laughed, finally turning to face them as well, "You're like Houdini, only five scary girls, only he was shorter. _Will_ _be_ shorter."

"You're rambling," Evy cut in.

"I'll ask you again," the girls said in unison, "Who are you?"

"Why don't you check THIS out?" he held out his wallet with an ID on it…a photo of his first incarnation, "Library card," he mumbled, putting it away.

"Rory's got the psychic paper," she whispered to him, reminding him.

He sighed, "I need the spare…" he shook his head before getting back to business, "Pale, creepy girls who don't like sunlight and can't be seen in..." he glanced at the mirror and then to Evy, "Are we thinking what I think we're thinking?'

"But the city's shut down," she didn't answer, eyeing the girls, "Why do that?"

"Unless..."

"Leave now, or we shall call for the steward..." the girls began before hissing, baring their fangs as they advanced, "If you are lucky."

The Doctor grabbed Evy's hand and pulled her towards the stairs they'd just come from. He pushed her behind him as he turned to the girls, holding up his hands, "Tell us the whole plan…" they kept advancing, "One day that may work…"

Evy just rolled her eyes, that would NEVER work, and pulled him up the stairs after her.

"Listen," he continued, speaking to the girls as they made their way back up the steps, "We would love to stay here. This whole thing...I'm _thrilled_. Oh, this is Christmas!"

He turned and ran up the stairs with Evy, the girls hissing after them. They didn't stop running as they raced from the school and through the streets, running straight into Amy…

"Evy!" she shouted, "Doctor!"

"We just met some vampires!" he shouted at the same time that Amy said, "We just saw a vampire!"

"Vampires!" Amy repeated as the Doctor said "And creepy girls and everything."

They started jumping up and down, excited, as Evy just shook her head at them, "Hello Rory!" she shouted, seeing him run up.

"We think we just saw a vampire," Rory told her.

"Us too. Amy told us."

"Yeah!" Amy turned to grin at her fiancé, "Evy and the Doctor actually went to their house."

"Oh…" he nodded slowly, not really feeling the excitement, "Right. Well..."

"Ok, so..." the Doctor slapped Rory's cheeks before pulling Evy to him, her back to his chest as he wrapped his arms around her, resting his head on her head, laughing silently to himself at how she was short enough for him to do so, "First we need to get back in there somehow."

"What?!"

"How do we do that?" Amy frowned.

"Back in where?!"

Evy just shook her head and stepped out of the Doctor's arms, beside him, her arm around his waist as she turned them around, "You need to meet Guido."

~8~

They sat in Guido's house that night, staring down at a map of Venice. The Doctor, Evy, and Amy, standing by the table, looking at it, as Rory sat on some barrels in the back of the room.

"As you saw, there's no clear way in," Guido said, "The House of Calvierri is like a fortress. But there's a tunnel underneath it with a ladder and shaft that leads up into the house. I tried to get in once myself, but I hit a trapdoor."

"You need someone on the inside," Amy nodded.

"No," the Doctor said.

"You don't even know what I was going to say!"

"That we pretend you're an applicant just to get you inside that school so that you can open the trapdoor tonight and let us in," Evy answered.

"Oh…so you know what I was going to say."

"I've already told Evy no," the Doctor replied, still not looking up.

"When did that happen?" Guido asked, the girl Evy hadn't said anything of the sort.

"When you mentioned the tunnel," he remarked, still looking down as he waved the question off.

"How else are we going to get in there?" Amy asked.

"Are you insane?" Rory's eyes widened.

"We don't have another option."

"He said no, Amy. Listen to him."

"There _is_ another option," Guido pointed towards Rory, "I work at the arsenal. We build the warships for the navy."

"Gunpowder?" Evy looked over at the barrels as the Doctor went to go sniff it.

"Most people just nick stationery from where they work," the Doctor remarked, nodding, as Rory slowly slid off a barrel and backed away…right into a dead rabbit hanging by the fireplace, "Look, Evy and I have a thing about guns and huge quantities of explosive…"

"What do you suggest, then?" Guido asked, "We wait until they turn her into an animal?" he turned away and poked the fire angrily.

"I'll be there three, four hours tops," Amy began slowly.

Evy had to smile at her persistence.

"No, no, no, no, no, no," the Doctor shook his head, "It can't keep happening like this. This is how they go…"

He sat back on the bed, his head in his hands before he sat back and looked over at Evy, ' _What do you think?_ '

' _I think if anyone is going to go, it should be me_ ,' she replied.

' _No!_ ' he said, his eyes hardening, ' _I'm NOT putting you in a situation like that, not ever._ '

' _Doctor, it's me or Amy. And of the two of us, I have a better chance._ '

' _But…_ '

' _Doctor, I'm as clever as you and I've got my powers if anything gets tricky…_ ' she paused a moment, before smirking, ' _Shall we tally your dangerous adventures up to mine? You owe me quite a few you know…_ '

He had to agree there…he did tend to put his life on the line more so than her…he knew that would come back to bite him one day. He shook his head, his gaze turning concerned, ' _What if something happens to you?_ '

Evy looked down a moment, ' _Then send the both of us._ '

He frowned, ' _The both of you?_ '

' _I watch her back, she watches mine,_ ' she shrugged, ' _If something happens to one of us, the other can help,_ ' he hesitated, ' _It's the best we can do._ '

He sighed, "You go together," he looked up at Evy meaningfully as she smirked in triumph.

"Wait…what just happened?" Rory shook his head, confused, "You didn't say anything for two minutes and then…"

"Sometimes they slip into these mental conversation things from time to time," Amy rolled her eyes, "Quite annoying actually."

"Mental conversations?" Guido asked.

"Yes, Evy and I have a mental bond, lets us talk to each other without talking to each other," the Doctor said before sitting up, not noticing Guido's confused expression, "We'll all go and say you're my daughters."

Evy snorted at the absurdity of the idea...

"What?" Rory demanded, first it was don't go and now it was go? "Don't listen to him!"

"Your daughters?" Amy asked incredulously, "You look about nine."

"And there's _no way_ I'm _ever_ going to pretend to be your _daughter_ ," Evy told him.

He grimaced at the thought for a moment, "Brother, then?"

"No," Evy shook her head, that was almost worse.

"Too weird," Amy agreed, before smiling suggestively, "Fiancé."

"I'm not having him run around telling people he's _your_ fiancé," Rory stated.

"And he's _my_ Link," Evy said, her smile fading as she looked at Amy.

She knew Amy had her sights set on the Doctor, but she also knew the Doctor was loyal to _her_ …it shouldn't bother her when Amy made comments like that but…it got to her sometimes. She'd thought that traveling with the two of them, Amy would see that the Doctor and her were together and perhaps move on, finally realize she had what she always wanted in Rory…but it seemed like she was just as stubborn as always…

Amy looked down at the look on Evy's face, a bit ashamed. She was _really_ trying to get over the Doctor, she knew, she could see it ever since she was a little girl, that he loved Evy with all his hearts…and she was trying _so_ hard to get over him and be happy with Rory, but...she had spent _so long_ pining over him that these little comments slipped through. There was always a little part inside her head nagging her, saying that maybe, if she could just find the opportunity, the Doctor might see something in her and leave…

She shook her head, halting those thoughts, "No. No, you're right."

"Thank you," Rory nodded.

Evy could only muster a small smile.

"I mean, they've already seen the Doctor…" she began, blinking, before turning to Evy, "Didn't they see you too?"

Evy shrugged, "It was dark. If I wear different clothes, change my hairstyle, keep my head down, I'll be fine."

Amy nodded slowly before getting back to Rory, "You should do it."

"Me?" Rory gaped.

"Yeah!" Amy smiled, jumping over to him, "You can be my brother," she rubbed his head playfully.

The Doctor just laughed at their silliness, holding out a hand to Evy who walked over and took it, letting herself be pulled onto his lap. He wrapped an arm around her, nuzzling the side of her head with his nose, knowing how Amy's words had affected her. Evy was always careful to guard her thoughts about the girl at times, but some of them slipped through. He knew that, even though she didn't feel threatened by Amy's presence, she wasn't too comfortable with how Amy acted or spoke around him or to him. He tried his best to ease her mind. He knew she trusted him, and she trusted Amy to an extent...not as much as before the Weeping Angel incident though...but he couldn't blame her. He _hated_ hurting people, he knew his interactions with Evy, the little moments they had, seemed to hurt Amy, but he was also trying to subtly help her realize that she was chasing after something she would never ever reach.

Evy smiled as he nuzzled her head, sensing his thoughts, as he kissed her temple.

"Why is him being your brother weird, but with me, it's ok?" Rory asked, pulling away, "This whole thing is mental! They're VAMPIRES, for God's sake."

"We hope," Evy remarked.

"So if they're not vampires..." Amy trailed.

"Makes you wonder what could be so bad it doesn't actually mind us thinking it's a vampire?" the Doctor asked, sticking his top teeth out in imitation of a vampire before nibbling on Evy's neck, making her squeal.

~8~

Amy and Evy stood on either side of Rory as they were brought before Signora Calvierri. Rory was wearing Guido's clothing while Evy and Amy wore a simple skirt and blouse that had once belonged to Isabella. Evy had let her hair down, some of it naturally falling over the side of her face as she looked down at the ground, eyeing the people in the room subtly.

"So, basically, both of our parents, aunt, and uncle are dead from getting the plague," Rory explained, "I'm a gondola...driver...so...money's a bit tight...so having my sister and my cousin go to your school for special people would be brilliant. Cheers."

The well dressed man who had put his foot on Guido the other day walked forward, interested in Amy, "Have we met?"

"I've just got one of those faces…"

"I wasn't talking to you."

"She's got the same face...which is because she's my sister!"

"Carlo, explain yourself," the Signora turned to her steward, "Why have you brought me this imbecile?"

"Signora, they have references from the King of Sweden," Carlo replied.

"What?" her eyes widened, "Let me see," she held out her hand and Rory walked to the throne, handing her the psychic paper. She paused a moment, looking down at it. Evy frowned as she watched recognition flash in the Signora's eyes before she put on a very forced smile, "Well, now I can see what got my steward so excited," she handed it back to Rory, "What say you, Francesco? Do you like them?"

Francesco moved over to Evy from circling Amy, eyeing her up and down before looking back at Amy, "Oh, I do, mother. I do."

"Then we would be delighted to accept them. Say goodbye to your sister and cousin."

Rory gripped Amy's hand tightly before Carlo led him out of the room.

"Tell Uncle...Doctor...we'll see you both pretty soon, ok?" Amy called after him, "We'll be fine."

Evy stiffened as Francesco approached Amy from behind, his teeth bared.

Rory's eyes widened, seeing this as well, "Amy!" he shouted as the door slammed shut.

' _Don't worry Rory,_ ' Evy's voice echoed in his mind, ' _I'll take care of her._ '

~8~

Evy looked up as Signora motioned for Carlo to lead them away.

' _How is it going?_ ' the Doctor asked.

' _Signora knows it's psychic paper._ '

' _What? How?_ '

' _I don't know. But she knew it was blank._ '

' _We're going to get you out,_ ' he promised her.

' _I know_ ,' she smiled, ' _Love you_.'

She could practically feel him smile in her mind, ' _Love you too_.'

Her attention snapped back to the tour as Carlo led them up some stairs. She glanced up to see various girls looking down at them and put her head down, trying not to look up at them.

"There are clothes on the bed," Carlo led them to a sort of dorm room where a few other girls were, "Get changed and wait here."

"Blimey," Amy muttered, looking around at the large, beautiful room, "This is private education, then?"

The other girls left one by one, following after Carlo. Evy nudged Amy, nodding over at the one girl who was left behind, sitting on her bed.

"Hey," Amy stepped over, "Hello. I'm Amy and this is Evy. What's your name?"

"Isabella," she answered.

' _Found her_ ,' she called.

Amy and Evy exchanged a glance before sitting down on either side of her, "Listen, we're going to get you out of here," Amy began.

"But we need you to tell us what happened," Evy added, "What is this place? What did they do to you?"

"They, um..." Isabella struggled, "They come at night. They gather around my bed and they take me to a room...with this green light and a chair with...with straps, as if for a surgeon..."

"What happens there?" Evy asked, reaching out to place a hand on Isabella's.

"I wake up here. And the sunlight burns my skin like candle wax."

A bell tolled as Amy looked around warily.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I always felt bad that Amy had to go into the school by herself, it always seemed too reckless to me. It also reminded me of Rose a bit, I always felt like she tended to treat some adventures with the Doctor as more of a game or a dream than seeing the dangers for what they were. Here was where I could see the events of The God Complex coming into play, Amy's faith in the Doctor, that she'll always be safe with him there. She goes into a school with no protection, treating it as though it's nothing serious, when it is very dangerous, all because she thinks the Doctor will keep her safe...let's just forget the fact he wouldn't be in the school at the same time but trying to make his way to it. So I wanted Evy there with her because the Doctor couldn't be.
> 
> Next chapter...the Doctor knows exactly how dangerous it is to travel with him. The Doctor and Evy try to get through to Amy. The Doctor tries his hand at distracting Evy...and it works.


	10. The Vampires of Venice (Part 2)

The Doctor and Rory were sitting in a gondola as Guido, dressed in Rory's clothes, guided it along.

"She'll be fine," the Doctor told Rory, who was looking tense.

"You can promise me that, can you?" Rory snapped, too worried about Amy and 'Fang-boy,' as he'd called the man in his mind, to be civil.

"Yeah," the Doctor nodded, "'Cos Evy's in there with her and she'll keep her safe..." he laughed, "She's kept me plenty safe, and that is no easy feat."

~8~

Amy and Evy snuck along the corridors and down the stairs of the school, dressed in white gowns. Amy was holding a lamp while Evy had her sonic out and ready. They were trying to keep their eye out for the room Isabella mentioned as they made their way down to let the Doctor and Rory in.

There was a moan and a cry of pain and Amy rushed off after it, leaving Evy little choice but to follow…but they couldn't find anyone.

"Amy," Evy whispered, "We need to let them in," she took Amy's arm and tugged her back to the stairs.

~8~

"We're here," Guido whispered to the boys, pushing the gondola to the side of the canal.

The Doctor stepped out and pulled a torch off the wall before opening the gate with a creak and heading off, Rory rushing after him.

"Right," the Doctor glanced back at Rory a moment, continuing to walk, "Ok, I'll go first. If anything happens to me, go back..."

"What happened?" Rory asked suddenly, "Between you and Amy? You said she tried to kiss you…"

The Doctor turned to look at him, stopping before a wooden door, "NOW? You want to do this NOW?" he turned and moved up a small set of steps to the door.

"I have a right to know," Rory shrugged, following the Doctor through the door, "I'm getting married in 430 years."

~8~

Amy and Evy entered the courtyard, Amy going right for the grate, working on pushing the lock out as Evy looked around the perimeter to make sure there wasn't anyone about to attack. She flashed her sonic, just to be safe, when it beeped as it passed over a chest. She frowned and moved over to it, kneeling down, the light from her sonic revealing a skeletal hand. There was a muffled shriek and the sound of the lamp falling.

Evy dropped her sonic, making sure it rolled to the chest before turning around to see Francesco holding Amy as Carlo grabbed her arm and pulled them out of the courtyard.

~8~

The Doctor and Rory were walking down a narrow passage, the only light coming from the flames of the torch.

"She was frightened," the Doctor was trying to explain why Amy had tried to kiss him, "Evy was frightened so I was frightened, but we survived, and the relief of it..." he trailed, "And so she tried to kissed me."

"And you kissed her back?" Rory asked.

"No!" the Doctor turned, pointing a finger at Rory, suddenly _very_ serious, "I love Evy and only Evy. I would NEVER betray her like that. Amy kissed me and I pushed her away."

"Really?" Rory frowned, hopeful that that was how it happened. By the Doctor's reaction, it was.

"Rory..." he sighed _,_ "Rory, she tried to kiss me because I was there. It would have been you," he tapped him on the chest, "It SHOULD have been you."

"Yeah," he nodded.

"Exactly," the Doctor smiled, "That's why we brought you here," there was a strong gust of wind as the torch blew out, "Can we go and see the vampires now, please?"

~8~

Amy gasped as Francesco forced her down a set of stairs, Evy calmly being led by Carlo into an underground chamber bathed in green light.

"Control yourself child!" Carlo snapped back at Amy.

"Get your hands off me!" Amy shouted as she saw the Signora and a few other girls waiting for them.

"Psychic paper," the Signora sneered at them, "Did you _really_ think that would work on me?" Carlo and Francesco forced Evy and Amy to the center of the room where the Signora circled them, "Where are you from? Did you fall through the chasm?"

Evy's eyes narrowed at that bit of information.

"Mother this is pointless," Francesco said, "Let's just start the process."

"Hold your tongue, Francesco!" the Signora ordered, "I need to know what these girls are doing in a world of savages with psychic paper," two girls brought forward the wooden chair with straps on it, "Who are you with? I scarcely believe your idiot brother and cousin sent you," another girl set a hook onto an eye socket above the chair, "What are you doing in MY school?" and another girl brought in an IV bag, placing it on the hook.

"Ok, I'll tell you," Amy began, "I'm from Ofsted."

The Signora laughed, "Put her in the chair. Tie up the other one!"

Francesco pushed Amy down into the chair as the girls fastened the straps over her wrists. Evy struggled as Carlo pulled her back and handcuffed her to the wall with shackles.

"No!" Amy struggled, "Get your hands off me!"

"Oh, make sport of me, will you?" the Signora glared, "Tease me as if I were your dog? Well, this dog has a bite, girl," Francesco held Amy's hair to the side as the Signora showed her fangs.

Amy screamed as the Signora leaned in to bite her…only to be thrown back into the wall behind her as soon as her teeth broke the skin.

~8~

The Doctor was looking around the courtyard with a rather large ultraviolet light for any sign of Amy or Evy as soon as he and Rory were out of the well entrance. He'd called out to Evy in his mind but she had only told him to find her sonic. And, knowing she wouldn't have him waste his time on something like that if it weren't important, he got to work.

Rory was walking along with him, just talking about what would happen if Amy didn't come back for the wedding, "If we cancel now, we lose the deposit on the village hall, the salsa band…"

"Found it!" the Doctor exclaimed, picking up Evy's sonic as it rested in front of an old wooden chest. He pushed the lid open to reveal skeletal remains.

"What happened to them?"

"They've had all the moisture taken out of them."

~8~

"Mother!" Francesco shouted, rushing to his mother's side. He helped her to her feet as the Signora glared at the dazed Amy sitting on the chair.

She strode forward, "How did you do that?"

" _She_ didn't," Evy replied.

They looked up and over at her, the Signora's eyes widening at the sight of blood dripping down from Evy's nose before glaring at her, "Her first."

The girls got to work, unstrapping Amy and moving her to the side of the room where they laid her down, the small bit of toxin from the bite leaving her in something of a stupor as Carlo went and got Evy into the chair.

~8~

"That's what vampires do, right?" Rory asked as they stared at the bodies, "They drink your blood and replace it with their own."

"Yeah, except they haven't just had their blood taken, but all the water in their bodies," the Doctor sighed.

"Why did they die? Why aren't they like the girls in the school?"

"Maybe not everyone survives the process…"

Rory stormed off, not at all pleased with that bit of information. He spun around and pointed at the Doctor, "You know what's dangerous about you? It's not that you make people take risks. It's that you make them want to impress you. You make it so they don't want to let you down. You have no idea how dangerous you make people to themselves when you're around."

"Oh don't I?" he stood and walked over to him, "Amy's not the first person to travel with me Rory, she's not the first who's ever…" he trailed, taking a breath, "I know _exactly_ how dangerous it is. I've nearly lost Evy a few times because she wanted to protect me like all my companions do. And I try, I really do, I try my _hardest_ to protect her, to protect _all_ my companions as well. I know..."

"Who are you?" a number of girls appeared from the archways, all speaking in unison.

The Doctor grabbed the ultraviolet light from his pocket and held it up, "We should run. Run!" he pushed Rory away from the courtyard, the girls chasing after them.

~8~

"This is how it works," the Signora sneered at Evy, not at all pleased with having been thrown into the wall, but excited enough by the prospect of having such a unique power in her possession, "First, we drink you until you're dry. Then...we fill you with our blood. It rages through you like a fire, changing you, until one morning you awake and your humanity is a dream...now faded."

"Or you die," Francesco added with a dark chuckle, "That can happen."

"And if we survive?" Evy asked.

"Then there are 10,000 husbands waiting for you in the water," the Signora told her.

Evy nodded, "Well, then there are two important things you should know."

"And what's that?"

"I'm taken," Evy smiled as the Signora started to laugh, "And your right hip is bigger than your left," and with that, she reached out and kicked the Signora as hard as she could in the woman's right hip.

The Signora stumbled back, stunned, as an electric hum filled the room. She flipped back part of her clothing to reveal a device clipped to her dress. Her image flickered to show an insectoid creature with a fish head.

Evy's eyes widened, "Sister of the Water!"

The Signora's human appearance flickered back as she looked at Evy with shock before a set of footsteps sounded above therm. They turned and ran out of the room leaving Evy and a recovered Amy alone.

"Amy!" Evy shouted.

Amy pushed herself up and ran over to the chair, working on Evy's right strap as Isabella appeared and moved to work on the left one. They ran out of the room as soon as Evy was free, Isabella leading them, only to run into the corridor where the Doctor and Rory were facing the Signora and a number of girls.

"Rory!" Amy shouted.

"Amy!" he called, relieved.

The Doctor looked over at Evy, staring in her eyes as she replayed the events that had just transpired to him.

"Quickly, through here!" Isabella called, turning to lead them out, the Doctor, Evy, Amy, and Rory running after her, followed by the girls.

"Seal the house!" they heard the Signora call from behind them.

"They're not vampires!" Amy shouted as they ran. Evy took her sonic back from the Doctor and soniced the door ahead of them.

"They're not?" Rory called.

"We saw them, we saw her. They're not vampires. They're aliens!"

"Sister of the Water," the Doctor nodded, "Yeah."

"Come on, move!" Evy shouted as they ran through the door.

Francesco caught up to them with a lit torch, the Doctor spun and flashed his ultraviolet light causing him to lean away.

"Keep moving!" he called up to them, "Come on, guys."

Isabella pushed open a door, ushering everyone forward and down a set of canal steps into the daylight where Guido was waiting with his gondola.

"Quickly," she rushed them, "Get out. Quick!" she turned to follow, only to be stopped by the sunlight. She put her hands up to block her eyes, in pain.

"Isabella!" Evy shouted, looking back.

"Come on, run!" the Doctor shouted, running back to help her.

"I can't!" she called as hands reached out and dragged her back inside.

"No!" the Doctor yelled, running to the door. He tried to push it open but it shut anyway. He pounded on it, only to be electrified.

"Doctor!" Evy tensed in shared pain before rushing up the stairs as he staggered back. She caught him as he slumped to the ground, holding him to her as she breathed a sigh of relief, the Link assuring her he was alive.

Rory and Amy ran up to check on him as well.

"Is he dead?" Amy swallowed hard.

"No, he's breathing," Rory said.

"He'll be fine," Evy nodded, glancing down at Guido who looked to the ground, knowing he'd never see his daughter again.

~8~

The Signora walked into the main room of the school to see the Doctor sitting on her throne.

"Long way from Saturnyne, aren't you...Sister of the Water?" he asked.

"No, let me guess," she smirked at him, "The owner of the psychic paper. Then I take it you're a refugee, like me?"

"I'll make you a deal. An answer for an answer. You're using a Perception Filter. It doesn't change your features, but manipulates the brainwaves of the person looking at you. But seeing one of you for the first time in, say, a mirror, the brain doesn't know what to fill the gap with, so leaves it blank...hence no reflection."

"Your question?"

"Why can we see your big teeth?" he smiled.

She laughed, "Self-preservation overrides the mirage. The subconscious perceives the threat and tries to alert the conscious brain."

"I told you so," another voice called.

The Signora's eyes widened in shock as the blonde girl who had thrown her into the wall stepped into the room from behind a curtain.

"Yes you did," the Doctor nodded, smiling as Evy walked over to the throne and stood beside it. She moved to put her hand on his shoulder but he snatched it and tugged her down onto his lap, winding his arms around her.

Evy laughed at the sudden move for only a moment before turning to the Signora, "Where's Isabella?"

She smirked, shaking her head, "My turn. Where are you from?" clearly the girl had to be an alien as well, to be able to use the power she'd seen before.

"Gallifrey," the Doctor answered.

"You should be in a museum. Or in a mausoleum."

"Why are you here?" Evy asked.

"We ran from the Silence. Why are you here?"

"Wedding present," the Doctor replied quickly, his interest peaked, "The Silence?"

"There were cracks. Some were tiny...some were as big as the sky. Through some we saw worlds and people and through others we saw silence...and the end of all things. We fled to an ocean like ours and the crack snapped shut behind us...and Saturnyne was lost."

"So Earth is to become Saturnyne Mark II?" he raised an eyebrow.

"And you can help me," she smiled at the two of them, "We can build a new society here, as others have. What do you say?"

"Hmm," he stood, Evy standing as a result, but he stepped away and turned her to sit on the throne in his place. He faced the Signora again, whispering, "Where's Isabella?"

"Isabella?" the Signora frowned.

' _She doesn't even know her name?_ ' Evy shook her head in disbelief and disgust, ' _She didn't even care enough to know her name?_ '

"The girl who saved my Link," the Doctor told her, glaring just a bit.

"Oh, deserters must be executed," she waved off the question, "Any general will tell you that. I need an answer, Doctor. A partnership. Any which way you choose."

"I don't think that's such a good idea, do you?" he stepped back, "I'm a Time Lord. You're a big fish. Think of the children."

"And besides," Evy added, standing and joining him, "He's taken."

The Signora glared at them before shouting, "Carlo!" he ran into the room as she turned back to them, "You're right. We're nothing alike. I will bend the heavens to save my race, while YOU philosophize."

"This ends today Signora."

"We'll tear down the House of Calvierri, stone by stone," the Doctor threatened.

Carlo reached out to grab Evy's arm but she pulled away, speaking words she'd once said to a rather arrogant boy in 1913, "You lay a hand on me again and you will find yourself missing an arm."

Carlo quickly pulled away.

The Doctor and Evy moved down the steps and walked across the room, stopping by the door to look back at the Signora, "And you know why?" the Doctor asked her, glaring fully, "You didn't know Isabella's name."

He turned, opening the door and slamming it shut behind them.

~8~

Back in Guido's house the Doctor examined the bite marks on Amy's neck, flashing the sonic over it, healing them, "You're fine. Open wide," he slipped a candy in her mouth and turned to pace around the room, "I need to think. Come on brain, think, think. Think!" he sat down at the end of the table, Amy on one side, Rory and Guido on the other, and Evy across from him, though she was sitting cross-legged on the table, "Think!"

"If they're fish people, it explains why they hate the sun," Amy tried to talk around the candy.

The Doctor reached out and put his hand over her mouth, "Stop talking, brain thinking. Hush."

"It's the school thing I don't understand," Rory began.

But the Doctor put his other hand over Rory's mouth as well, "Stop talking, brain thinking. Hush."

"I say we take the fight to them," Guido stated.

"Ah ah ah!" the Doctor looked over at him.

"What?"

"Ah!" the Doctor motioned for Rory to move.

Rory placed his hand over Guildo's mouth.

"Her planet dies, so they flee through a crack in space and time, and end up here, then she closes off the city and, one by one, changes people into creatures like her to start a new gene pool," he muttered to himself quickly, "Got it. Then what? They come from the sea, they can't survive forever on land, so what's she going to do?"

"Turn the land into sea?" Evy suggested.

Rory pulled the Doctor's hand off his mouth, "Why don't you tell _her_ to hush?"

The Doctor put his hand back on Rory's mouth, "Two very good reasons. One, she's my Link. And two, I value my life."

"She'd have to alter the environment in order to turn the land to sea though..." Evy continued.

The Doctor nodded, "She said, 'I shall bend the heavens to save my race,'" he moved his hands from Amy and Rory's mouths to their heads, making them nod, "Bend the heavens...bend...the _heavens_..."

He looked up at Evy suddenly as they realized what the Signora was going to do and how, "She's going to sink Venice," she breathed.

"She's...she's going to _sink_ Venice?" Guido repeated, skeptically.

"So she can repopulate it with the converted girls."

"You can't repopulate somewhere with just women," Rory argued, "You need...blokes."

"She's got blokes," Amy said suddenly.

"Where?" the Doctor looked at her.

"In the canal," Amy looked over at Evy, remembering what the Signora had said as the toxins wore off, "She said, 'There are 10,000 husbands waiting in the water.'"

"Right!" Evy shouted.

"Only the male offspring survived the journey here," the Doctor shook his head in thought, "She's got 10,000 children swimming in the canals, waiting for mum to make them some compatible girlfriends. Ew. I mean, I've been around a bit, but, really, that's...that's... _ew_ …" there was a sudden clattering of noise on the floor above them and they all looked up, "The people upstairs are very noisy."

"There aren't any people upstairs," Guido said as Evy mouthed it along with him.

"I knew you were going to say that," he groaned, "Evy too…did anyone else know he was going to say that?" the wood creaked as if someone were walking across the floor.

"Is it the vampires?" Rory asked.

"Like we said, they're not vampires. Fish from space."

There was a loud thump and glass broke as the converted girls appeared in the windows and from the stairs. They all jumped to their feet the Doctor pulling out his ultraviolet light.

"Aren't we on the _second_ floor?" Rory shouted.

The girls at the window broke through more of the glass as the Doctor flashed his light to keep them back. Evy pulled out her sonic, flashing them, revealing the insectoid-fish headed aliens like the Signora.

"What's happened to them?" Guido gasped.

"They're gone," Evy relied sadly, "Fully converted."

"Blimey, fish from space have never been so..." the Doctor trailed.

"You want to finish that statement?" Evy cut in, switching off the screwdriver, giving him a look as she saw where his thoughts were heading.

"Ok!" he shouted, cutting himself off, "Move. Come on."

They ran down stairs, Amy and Rory first, followed by Evy and the Doctor, and then Guido.

"Give me the lamp!" Guido shouted as the Doctor handed it over so he could keep the girls back.

They flew out the front door, "Go, go, go, guys!" the Doctor shouted from behind Amy and Rory.

"Keep moving, go, go, go!" Evy shouted as well.

"Stay away from the door!" Guido yelled at them before stepping back into the house, slamming the door shut, locking them out.

"No!" the Doctor ran back to the door, "Guido!"

"What're you doing?" Evy demanded as they began to pound on the door.

"We're not leaving you! What are you doing?"

Evy tried her sonic, but it didn't work, the wood around the lock was warped.

"Guido!" he shouted.

"Doctor!" Evy grabbed his arm, her sonic picking up something else, and pulled him away. They ran from the house just as it exploded, sending them to the ground. The Doctor jumped to his feet, helping Evy up as Amy and Rory ran back over. They could hear people shouting in the streets, "The final phase has been activated!" she shouted, looking up at the sky filling with storm clouds and lightning.

"We need to stop her!" Amy called, "Come on!"

"No, no," the Doctor yelled, stopping her, "Get back to the TARDIS."

"You can't stop her on your own."

"He's _not_ alone," Evy stepped up, " _I'm_ going."

"Then so am I."

"We don't discuss this!" the Doctor snapped, "I tell you to do something, Amy, and you do it. Huh?"

"Why does _she_ get to go and _I_ have to stay?" Amy demanded angrily.

"Because I will _never_ leave him," Evy told her.

"She is my _Link_ ," the Doctor added, "And if there's one person in the world I trust to have my back and help me do something it's _her_. Now go back to the TARDIS!"

Amy glared at him, hurt evident in her eyes, before she turned and stormed off.

"Thank you," Rory told him, running off after Amy.

"You're welcome," the Doctor smiled, taking Evy's hand.

There was more screaming and they took off, running all the way back to the school. There weren't any guards to stop them this time and they strode straight into the throne room. Evy ran over to the chair, pulling open the padding to reveal an alien circuitry behind it. She pulled out her sonic to scan it.

"You're too late," the Signora called, they looked over to see her standing behind them, "Such determination...just to save one city. Hard to believe it's the same man that let an entire race turn to cinders and ash. Now you can watch as my people take their new kingdom."

"The girls have gone," the Doctor told her.

"You're lying."

"Shouldn't we be dead?"

The Signora seemed to realize that and turned to walk off.

"Please, Signora, _help_ us," Evy called after her, "200,000 people are going to die..."

"Then save them," she called over her shoulder before walking out of the room.

The Doctor looked over at Evy who shook her head. They had to find out what the chair was controlling before safely shutting it down. They ran out of the room to a balcony, looking down at the city below and up at the clouds. A bell tolled above them as they turned and ran back into the throne room, just as Amy and Rory entered from a side door.

"Get out!" the Doctor shouted as Evy ran to the throne, "We need to stabilize the storm."

"We're not leaving you," Rory stepped up.

"Right," he nodded his head, sarcastic, "So one minute it's, 'You make people a danger to themselves,' the next it's, 'We're not leaving you!' But if one of you gets squashed or blown up or eaten, who gets..."

The ground shook violently as they fell to the floor.

"What was that?" Rory asked.

"Oh just a slight earthquake," Evy replied from flashing the chair with her sonic as the Doctor picked himself up.

"An earthquake?" Amy frowned.

"If you manipulate the elements enough it _can_ trigger earthquakes."

"But don't worry about them," the Doctor waved them off.

"No?" Rory frowned.

"No. Worry about the tidal waves caused by the earthquake."

"This is the control hub," Evy said, standing up, gesturing to the throne, "But the program's locked."

The Doctor nodded and turned to Roy and Amy, "We need you to tear out every single wire and circuit in the throne. Go crazy. Hit it with a stick, anything," he nodded and began heading for the door when Evy ran up to him, "No, you need to stay here."

"Are we tallying up life threatening situations again?" she raised an eyebrow.

"No it's just…we need it to shut down and reroute control to the secondary hub, the generator. They won't know how to do that, you can."

She sighed, "You owe me a dangerous situation."

"Next one," he kissed her quickly, "Promise!"

He turned and ran out as Evy turned back to see Rory and Amy tearing apart the chair and having a grand old time at it.

~8~

As soon as the humans had finished the chair, Evy managed to rewire and reprogram it, rerouting the control to the secondary hub. They ran out into the courtyard and looked up to see the Doctor climbing on top of the bell tower.

"There he is!" Rory shouted.

"Come on," Evy muttered, her eyes trained on him.

~8~

The Doctor pulled open the sphere at the top of the tower, seeing a device spinning within it. He frowned, looking around, examining the device, but couldn't make heads or tails of it. He looked down to see Evy in the crowd and nearly slapped himself.

' _Evy, look at this_ ,' he called, focusing on the device.

~8~

Evy shut her eyes, seeing what he was seeing, ' _The top gear_ ,' she said, ' _A toggle switch…right…now!_ '

~8~

He reached out and flipped the toggle off just as it came around to him, the storm immediately dissipating, a clear blue sky shining through the clouds.

~8~

Amy and Rory laughed, hugging each other as the crowd cheered.

~8~

The Doctor shut the sphere and waved down before he carefully…or Evy would kill him…made his way back down.

~8~

Evy and the Doctor found the Signora standing by a plank before the bubbling water of the canal, still looking like a human. Evy's kick to the Filter must have damaged it badly.

"Signora!" Evy shouted as they ran forward.

"One city to save an entire species," she muttered, "Was that so much to ask?"

The Doctor took Evy's hand as they slowly approached her, "We told you," he began gently, "You can't go back and change time. You mourn but you live. We know, Rosanna, we did it."

She turned her head, looking at them over her shoulder, "Tell me...can your consciences carry the weight of another dead race? Remember us. Dream of us," and she let herself fall into the water.

"No!" Evy shouted as she and the Doctor ran over to the edge of the water, but she was gone.

~8~

In the marketplace, the citizens were cleaning up after the storm as the group headed back to the TARDIS.

"Now, then, what about you two, eh?" the Doctor looked back at Amy and Rory, grinning, "Next stop Leadworth Register Office? Maybe I can give you away."

"It's fine," Rory said, not sounding as though it were fine at all, "Drop me back where you found me. I'll just say you've..."

"Stay…with us," Amy cut in, "Please. Just for a bit. I want you to stay."

"Me too," Evy smiled and nodded.

"Fine with me," the Doctor agreed, his arm around Evy.

"Yeah?" Rory looked around, seeing them nod, "Yes, I would like that."

"Nice one," Amy kissed him, "I will pop the kettle on…" she unlocked the TARDIS, "Hey, look at this. Got my spaceship, got my boys and my girl. My work here is done," she walked inside, closing the door behind her.

"We are _not_ her boys," Rory scoffed.

"Well, _I'm_ not," the Doctor gave him a meaningful glance.

Rory sighed, " _I_ am…"

Evy laughed, opening the door for Rory, her smile fading as she realized something. She looked up at the Doctor who had noticed it as well.

"Listen to that," he muttered as they looked around.

"Silence," Evy frowned.

"Let's go," he said, holding the door open for Evy. They stepped into the TARDIS and took off.

~8~

Evy was sitting in the Doctor's harness under the console, working on it from below. He'd really done a number trying to 'fix' it earlier…especially since it didn't need fixing. Sometimes she thought that he just broke things simply to have her fix them…he did seem rather fond of watching her work.

She squinted, concentrating on soldering two wires together that had been blown apart by the blowtorch he'd been using, when she felt two arms encircle her waist from behind.

"You're not the only one who has a few tricks," the Doctor whispered in her ear before dropping a kiss onto her neck.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," she told him, trying to stay focused.

"Oh I think you do Miss I-Know-How-To-Distract-You," he smiled into her neck, "Two can play at that game…"

And then he proceeded to tickle her sides till she half fell out of the harness and collapsed on the ground in a wave of laughter. He continued tickling her till tears appeared in her eyes and he suddenly stopped, leaning over her, holding her arms down by her head.

He smiled at her softly, leaning down and kissing her deeply…distracting her quite effectively from the rest of her work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh Doctor, you are very distracting aren't you? This will definitely come up again (cough, cough/wink, wink/nudge, nudge). I know there wasn't much resolution about the whole Amy-Doctor-kiss thing, at least for Amy, in this chapter. The Doctor and Evy don't particularly care, they were uncomfortable with it, but are over it as it truly meant nothing to the Doctor. Rory wasn't really there for it, but he's got the Doctor's promise of how little it meant to him for him to know nothing would have come of it anyway, not that he's happy Amy did it in the first place. But Amy...she's still got these lingering thoughts doesn't she? Oh well, that'll all change in the next two chapters :)
> 
> Next chapter...the Dream Lord seems to think Amy has it out for Evy. What will he do about it? Does Evy know who the Dream Lord is?


	11. Amy's Choice (Part 1)

The TARDIS materialized in a small garden in Leadworth, crushing the flowers beneath it. The doors opened and the Doctor popped his head out, looking around. He stepped out, confused, knocking stone from a small retaining wall, nearly tripping in the process, when he saw an older Rory stepping out of the house, with longer hair in a ponytail.

"Rory!" he shouted in greeting.

"Doctor!" Rory smiled.

"Evy's crushed your flowers."

"I did not," Evy called, stepping out of the TARDIS and shutting the door behind her.

"What do you call that then?" he smirked, pulling her into his arms, spinning her so her back was to him and she could look down at the crushed flowers.

"I call it me piloting and _you_ landing."

"Either way," Rory cut in, "Amy will kill the both of you."

"Where is she?" Evy asked, looking around.

"She'll need a bit longer."

"Whenever you're ready, Amy!" the Doctor shouted. Their eyes widened as Amy finally made her way out of the house, obviously very pregnant, "Oh, wahey! Wahey. You've swallowed a planet!" the Doctor shouted, laying a hand on her stomach.

"She's pregnant," Evy commented, hugging Amy.

"You're huge!" the Doctor continued, looking at Amy's stomach.

"Yeah, I'm pregnant," Amy nodded.

"Look at you," the Doctor hugged them both, "When worlds collide."

"Doctor, I'm pregnant," Amy tried once more.

"Look at the both of you," Evy went over and hugged Rory, "You haven't changed at all in five years."

"Apart from age and size," the Doctor added.

Amy just rolled her eyes at the Doctor, "Good to see you Doctor."

The Doctor looked at her, then down to her stomach, then back at her, "Are you pregnant?"

Evy laughed as Amy shook her head, "Slow as ever I see…" Amy commented, heading back inside.

"Of course," Evy agreed, wrapping her arm around the Doctor's waist as he rested an arm around her shoulder. He clapped Rory on his shoulder before they all followed Amy inside only to see her grabbing her coat, eager to get out of the house and show them around town.

They headed down a village lane, the Doctor and Evy hand-in-hand as Amy and Rory walked beside them.

"Ah, Leadworth," the Doctor commented, "Vibrant as ever."

"It's Upper Leadworth, actually," Rory cut in, "We've gone slightly up market."

"Where is everyone?" Evy asked, looking around. She'd only seen about one or two people besides them so far.

"This is busy," Amy told them before sighing, "Ok, it's quiet, but it's really restful and healthy. Loads of people here live well into their 90s."

"Well, don't let that get you down," the Doctor smiled.

"It's not getting me down."

Rory led them over to a small bench in a cul-de-sac, sitting down on one end as Amy did the other. The Doctor sat between them, pulling Evy down to sit on his lap, her head resting against his chest, comfortable despite the squeeze.

"We wanted to see how you were," the Doctor began, "We don't just abandon people when they leave the TARDIS. This Time Lord's for life. You don't get rid of the Doctor so easily."

"You came here by mistake, didn't you?" Amy asked.

"Yeah, bit of a mistake."

"Actually…" Evy began, smirking, "I _finally_ got him to agree to let me pilot by myself and I wanted to check in. I missed you two!"

"You said we were going to the second moon of Bennix!" the Doctor stared at her.

She rolled her eyes, twisting a bit to give him a peck, "We'll go after. Didn't you want to stop in? Say hello? Have a look around?"

"Oh yes," he replied sarcastically, though with a smile on his face, "Look at this...bench. What a nice bench. What will they think of next?"

"Cushions?" Evy suggested, getting a laugh out of him.

They fell into silence, just sitting there, the Doctor starting to fidget despite Evy being on his lap, "So…" he began, if just for something to say, "What do you do around here to stave off the, you know..."

"Boredom?" Amy suggested.

"Self harm."

"We relax..." Rory said. The Doctor and Evy looked at each other, mouthing 'relax,' "We live, we listen to the birds…"

A tiny bit of snow started to fall as they heard a bird chirp.

"Yeah, see, birds," Amy nodded, "Those are nice."

"We didn't get time to listen to birdsong back in the TARDIS days."

Evy frowned as the birdsong got distinctly louder.

"Oh, blimey," the Doctor winced, grabbing his head, "My head's a bit, ooh..."

"You alright?" Evy asked, reaching out to touch his head with her hand, beginning to look to see if anything was wrong.

"I'm fine," he smiled at her, pulling her hand away to kiss her fingers before turning to Amy and Rory, "No, you're right, there wasn't a lot of time for birdsong back in the good..." he began to drift off, Evy's eyes fluttered as she rested her head on his chest, "Old...days..."

The four of them fell asleep.

~8~

The Doctor woke up in the TARDIS with a start to find himself on the floor of the console, "What?" he jumped away, "No, yes, sorry, what?" he looked around to see Evy waking up, sitting beside the console and moved to help her up as Amy and Rory came into the room, "Oh, you're ok," he smiled at Evy, giving her the onceover before looking at Amy and Rory, breathing a sigh of relief to see Amy wasn't pregnant and Rory had short hair, "Oh, thank God. I had a terrible nightmare about you two. That was scary. Don't ask, you don't want to know. You're safe now," he moved to hug Amy and Rory between him.

Evy frowned, looking around, noticing something off about the console.

"Oh, ok," Amy began, confused.

"That's what counts," the Doctor smiled, stepping back, "Blimey, never dropped off like that before. Well, never, really. I'm getting on a bit, you see. Don't let the cool gear fool you."

"Doctor, look at the console," Evy called suddenly. He looked over to see her standing by it, examining red lights that were going off.

"Red flashing lights..." he began, joining her, "I bet they mean something."

"They mean something's wrong."

"Doctor, I also had a kind of dream thing," Rory said.

"Yeah, so did I," Amy agreed.

He looked over at Evy who tensed, ' _Amy pregnant and Rory with a ponytail?_ ' she looked up at him.

' _Yup,_ ' he nodded, ' _So…same dream. That's not so odd. Mental bonds and all often lead to shared dreams._ '

' _But did they have the same one?_ '

As though sensing her thoughts Rory spoke again, "Not a nightmare, though, just...we were married."

"Yeah, in a little village," Amy agreed as the Doctor and Evy looked over at them, surprised.

"A sweet little village, and you were pregnant."

"Yeah, I was huge. I was a boat."

The Doctor slowly walked over to Rory, tugging on the back of his hoodie to make sure there wasn't a ponytail while Evy watched, still trying to get the monitor to bring up what was wrong with the TARDIS.

"So you had the same dream, then?" Rory looked at Amy, "Exactly the same dream?"

"Are you calling me a boat?" Amy threatened.

"And Doctor, you and Evy were visiting," Rory turned to him, effectively sidestepping Amy's question.

The Doctor flipped open Amy's jacket, making sure she wasn't pregnant before slowly making his way back over to Evy, concerned.

"Yeah, yeah, you came to our cottage," Amy recalled.

"How can we have the same dream? It doesn't make sense."

"And you had a nightmare about us. What happened to us in the nightmare?"

"It was similar, in some aspects," the Doctor began.

"Which aspects?" Rory frowned.

"All of them," Evy replied.

"You had the same dream as well?" Amy looked between the Doctor and Evy.

"Basically," the Doctor nodded.

"You said it was a nightmare!" Rory accused.

"Did I say nightmare?" he asked, trying to cover it up, "No. More of a really good...mare. Look, it doesn't matter. We all had some kind of psychic episode."

"We could have jumped a time track?" Evy suggested, though her tone suggested she seriously doubted that, "Maybe?"

A bird began chirping.

"Forget it, we're back to reality now," the Doctor nodded.

"Doctor, if we're back to reality how come I can still hear birds?" Amy cut in.

"Yeah, the same birds," Rory looked around, "The same ones we heard in the…"

~8~

They woke up, still sitting on the bench in Leadworth. Evy on the Doctor's lap, the Doctor and Rory heads resting together.

"…dream," Rory pulled away from the Doctor quickly, embarrassed, "Oh. Sorry. Nodded off, stupid. God, I must be overdoing it. I was dreaming we were back on the TARDIS."

Evy got off the Doctor's lap as the Doctor stood up and walked over to stand in the middle of the road with her, both of them looking around.

"You had the same dream, didn't you?" Rory turned to Amy.

She nodded, "Back in the TARDIS. Weren't we just saying the same thing?"

"But we thought this was the dream."

The Doctor picked up a small stone from the path, examining it closely before throwing it back down.

"I think so," Amy pushed herself up, "Why do dreams fade so quickly?"

"Doctor, Evy, what is going on?" Rory asked, walking over to them with Amy.

"Is this because of you? Is this some Time Lord thing because you two have shown up again?"

"Listen to us," the Doctor turned to face them, "Trust nothing. From now on, trust nothing you see, hear, or feel."

"But we're awake now," Rory argued.

"And you didn't think that on the TARDIS?" Evy countered.

Amy looked around, "But we're home."

"Yes, you're home. But you're also dreaming."

"Trouble is, Rory, Amy, which is which?" the Doctor asked, "Are we flashing forwards…or backwards? Hold on tight. This is going be a tricky one."

~8~

Amy awoke in the jump seat with a gasp to see Evy and the Doctor at work at the console, the Doctor trying to move a lever and struggling with it as Evy knelt down and tried to examine the under panels.

"This is bad," the Doctor said, looking down at Evy, "I don't like this."

"Neither do I," she sighed, standing up.

The Doctor suddenly kicked the console, grabbing his foot in pain as Evy ran to his side and helped steady him, "Argh! Never use force. You just embarrass yourself."

"I've told you to stop doing that!" Evy scolded, helping him to lean against the railing, "She doesn't like it when you do that. Never use force!"

"Unless you're cross, in which case, always use force," he countered, grinning cheekily at her.

Evy rolled her eyes and headed for the stairs to look under the console.

"Shall I run and get the manual?" Amy asked.

"You can't Amy," Evy called up, "Because the genius up there threw it in a supernova."

Amy spun to face the Doctor, "You threw the manual in a supernova? Why?"

"Because I disagreed with it," he said, "Don't talk to me when I'm cross," he wagged his finger at her.

"Ok, but whatever's wrong with the TARDIS, is that what caused us to dream about the future?" Rory frowned, confused.

" _If_ we were dreaming the future…" Evy replied, heading back up the stairs, nothing was wrong down there. She walked over to the Doctor, giving him a peck on the cheek, "Still cross?" she asked. He shook his head.

"Of course we were," Amy said, "We were in Leadworth."

" _Upper_ Leadworth," Rory corrected.

"And it's possible that we're there righht now, dreaming of this," Evy countered.

"Don't you get it?" the Doctor turned to them.

"No, ok, no, this is real," Amy stated, "I'm definitely awake now."

"And you thought you were awake when you were all elephanty."

"Hey, pregnant!"

"And you could be giving birth right now."

"This _could_ be the dream too," Evy replied, "Do you see?"

"I told you, trust nothing we see or hear or feel. Look around you. Examine everything. Look for all the details that don't ring true," he walked over to the console, his foot feeling better, as Evy joined him.

"Ok, we're in a spaceship that's bigger on the inside than the outside," Rory pointed out.

"With a bow-tie wearing alien," Amy added, "And a space cowgirl."

"Hey!" Evy defended, she preferred for her image to be 'western heroine.'

"So maybe 'what rings true' isn't so simple," Rory finished.

Evy turned to the Doctor, "They do have a point."

The TARDIS suddenly powered down, leaving them in darkness, the only light coming from the console.

"It's dead…" the Doctor breathed, taking Evy's hand, "We're in a dead time machine."

The birdsong returned as the TARDIS grew darker and darker. Rory rushed to Amy's side, taking her in his arms.

"Remember, how real this is," Evy called out, "When we wake up there, remember how real here feels too."

"It is real," Amy said, "I know it's real."

~8~

The Doctor and Evy were standing in the middle of the road, watching a group of schoolchildren pass by as Amy and Rory woke up on a bench outside a library.

"Ok," Amy breathed, rubbing her stomach, " _This_ is the real one, definitely this one. It's all solid."

"The TARDIS felt solid too," Evy remarked, "It's hard to spot a dream while you're having it."

The Doctor started waving his fingers in front of his face.

"What are you doing?" Rory asked.

"Looking for motion blur, pixilation," he replied, "It could be a computer simulation. I don't think so though."

"Hello, doctor," an old woman called, walking by them.

"Hi!" the Doctor nodded.

"Hello," Rory greeted at the same time.

The woman paused to look back at them as the Doctor just stared at Rory, "You're a doctor?"

"Yeah," he nodded, "And unlike you, I've actually passed some exams."

"A doctor, not a nurse," the Doctor continued, "Just like you've always dreamed. How interesting," he took Evy's hand and walked off with her.

"What is?" Rory asked, following after with Amy.

"Your dream wife, your dream job, probably your dream baby. Maybe this is your dream."

"It's Amy's dream too. Isn't it, Amy?"

"Yes," Amy replied, a bit strained, "Course it is, yeah."

"What building is that again?" Evy asked.

They looked over to see her staring at a brick building behind them.

"Old people's home," Amy answered.

The Doctor looked over, following Evy's gaze to see that all the residences were at the windows looking out, directly at them, _staring_ at them.

"And everyone lives to their 90s," Evy frowned, shaking her head, "There's something about that that doesn't quite make sense."

The Doctor grinned excitedly, "Let's go and poke it with a stick!"

"Oh don't!" Evy called as she walked after him, "Remember the last time you did that!"

Rory groaned as they disappeared into the home.

"Can we not do the running thing?" Amy asked before she and Rory followed after.

They all walked into a lounge where the residences were just relaxing, "Oh, hello, Dr. Williams!" one of the residents greeted as they walked in.

Evy stopped in the middle of the room and looked around, frowning. Something was off…there was a time echo in the room that was far older than humanly possible and it seemed the doctor felt it too.

"Hello, Rory, love," a little old woman looked up from her knitting.

"Hello, Mrs. Poggit. How's your hip?" Rory greeted.

"A bit stiff."

"Oh, easy, D-96 compound, plus..." the Doctor began, but Evy elbowed him in the side, "No, you don't have that yet, forget that."

"Who're your friends?" Mrs. Poggit looked over at the Doctor and Evy, "A junior doctor and a nurse?"

Rory gave a bit of a smug smile, "Yes."

"Can I borrow you?" Mrs. Poggit turned to the Doctor, "You're the size of my grandson."

The Doctor hesitated when Evy's grip on his arm tightened but knelt forward by Mrs. Poggit as she put the jumper over his head, "Slightly keen to move on. Freak psychic schism to sort out," he suddenly leaned forward, looking at her, forcing Mrs. Poggit back, "You're incredibly old, aren't you?"

The birdsong began again, causing Amy, Rory, the Doctor, and Evy to stagger before falling to the floor, asleep.

~8~

They woke up leaning against the console.

"Ok, I hate this, Doctor," Amy turned to them, "Stop it, because this is definitely real, it's definitely this one. I keep saying that, don't I?"

The Doctor ran to the upper level of the TARDIS, trying to see if the heating was working at least. He and Evy were fine for now, but the humans wouldn't be for long.

"It's bloody cold," Rory muttered, crossing his arms.

"The heating's off, isn't it?" Evy called up to him.

"The heating's off?"

"Yeah," the Doctor nodded, "Put on a jumper. That's what we always do."

"Yes, sorry about Mrs. Poggit," Rory smiled, leaning back against the console, "She's so lovely though."

"Oh, I wouldn't believe her nice old lady act if I were you."

"What do you mean, 'act?'" Amy frowned.

"Everything's off. Sensors, core power. We're drifting. The scanner's down so we can't even see out. We could be anywhere," he headed back to the console, Evy walked over to him, sensing his frustration, "Someone, something, is overriding my controls."

Suddenly a man flickered into appearance at the top of the steps, "Well, that took a while," they all spun around to see a short man with a receding hairline, a bit hefty, dressed in a tweed jacket, stripped shirt, and big bowtie. He started walking down the steps, "Honestly, I'd heard such good things about the two of you. Last of the Time Lords. The Oncoming Storm and his lovely Link. Him in the bow-tie…"

"How did you get into my TARDIS?" the Doctor cut in, "What are you?"

"What shall we call me?" the man sighed, "Well, if you're the Time Lord, let's call me the Dream Lord."

"Nice look."

"This?" the Dream Lord looked down, "No, I'm not convinced. Bow-ties?"

Evy picked a random item off the console and tossed it at the Dream Lord, it went right though him, "How about that…"

"Oh, clever aren't you?" the Dream Lord smirked, "But obviously can't be too bright if you stick by him," he nodded over at the Doctor who just took Evy's hand and trying to pull her behind him. The Dream Lord just laughed, "As if _that_ would protect her from me. None of you are safe from me, _especially_ not _her_."

"Who are you?" Amy asked.

"It's in the name, isn't it? Spooky, not quite there," he reappeared behind them, "And yet, very much here."

"I'll do the talking, thank you," the Doctor cut in, "Amy, want to take a guess at what that is?"

"Um," she frowned, "Dream Lord. He creates dreams."

"Dreams, delusions, cheap tricks."

"And what about the gooseberry here, does he get a guess?" the Dream Lord nodded at Rory.

"Listen, mate, if anyone's the gooseberry around here, it's the Doctor," Rory countered.

"There's a delusion I'm not responsible for."

"No, he is. Isn't he, Amy?"

"Oh, Amy, have to sort your men out," the Dream Lord turned to her, smirking, "Choose, even."

"I have chosen," Amy replied, "Of course I've chosen…" she smacked Rory on the chest, not taking her eye off the Dream Lord, "It's you, stupid."

"Oh, good, thanks," Rory nodded.

The Dream Lord's smirk widened, "You can't fool me. I've seen your dreams. Some of them twice, Amy. Blimey, I'd blush if I had a blood supply or a real face."

Amy stiffened.

"Where did you pick up this cheap cabaret act?" the Doctor cut in again.

"Me?" the Dream Lord countered, "Oh, you're on shaky ground."

"Am I?"

"If you had any more tawdry quirks you could open up a Tawdry Quirk Shop," he sneered, "The madcap vehicle, the cockamamie hair, the clothes designed by a first-year fashion student...I'm surprised you haven't got a little purple space dog just to ram home what an intergalactic wag you are. It's a wonder she can even look at you without laughing or turning away in disgust," he took a breath, "Where was I?"

"You were..." Rory began.

The Dream Lord appeared on the upper level, "I know where I was. So, here's your challenge. Two worlds. Here in the time machine, and there in the village that time forgot. One is real, the other's fake," Evy tilted her head at that piece of information, "And just to make it more interesting you're going to face in both worlds a deadly danger. But only one of the dangers is real. Tweet, tweet. Time to sleep," they stumbled around the room, falling to the floor, falling asleep, "Oh, or are you waking up?"

~8~

They woke up in the lounge of the old people's home, now completely empty save for them. The Doctor helped Evy to her feet just as the Dream Lord walked into the room holding an x-ray film, "Oh, this is bad. This is very, very bad. Look at this x-ray…" he turned to the Doctor, "Your brain is completely see-through. But then, I've always been able to see through you Doctor."

"Always?" Amy stepped forward, "What do you mean 'always?'"

"Now then, the prognosis is this," the Dream Lord continued, as the Doctor sat back into Mrs. Poggit's chair, Evy sitting down on the arm until he pulled her into his lap, "If you die in the dream you wake up in reality. Healthy recovery in next to no time. Ask me what happens if you die in reality?"

"What happens?" Rory asked.

"You die, stupid," the Dream Lord said, exasperated, "That's why it's called _reality_."

"Have you met the Doctor before?" Amy asked, now more interested than threatened, "Do you know him? Doctor, does he?"

"Now don't get jealous," the Dream Lord smirked, "He's been around, our boy. But never mind that," he turned to the Doctor, "You've got a world to choose. One reality was always too much for you, Doctor. Take two and call me in the morning."

He disappeared.

"Ok, I don't like him," Rory commented.

Amy crossed her arms, turning to the Doctor, "Who is he?"

"I don't know," the Doctor replied, "It's a big Universe."

"Why is he doing this?"

"Maybe because he has no physical form. That gets you down after a while, so he's taking it out on folk like us who can touch and eat and feel…" he touched the jumper before removing it.

"What does he mean, 'deadly danger?'" Rory asked, "Nothing deadly has happened here. A bit of natural wastage, obviously."

"Where have they gone?" Evy commented, "All of the old people, they're gone..."

The Doctor looked around, as if just noticing that, before getting up with Evy and taking her hand, running outside with her, the others following. They ran out of the home to see children playing next to the local ruins, a teacher with them as they went and explored.

"Why would they leave?" Rory frowned, looking around.

Amy turned to the Doctor, "And what did you mean about Mrs. Poggit's act?"

"No time for that," the Doctor sighed, "Come on, let's think. The mechanics of this split we're stuck in..."

"Time asleep equals the time in our dream world," Evy began, helping him think, "That doesn't usually happen."

"And we're dreaming the _same_ dream at the _same_ time," Rory added.

"Yes, sort of communal trance, very rare, very complicated," the Doctor nodded, "I'm sure there's a dream giveaway. But my mind isn't working because this village is so dull! I'm slowing down, like you two have!"

Amy suddenly grabbed her stomach, "Oh. Ow. Really. Ow!" she screamed, "It's coming."

Evy ran to Amy's side, her arm around the girl's back, supporting her as the two men paled.

"Help her, you're a doctor!" the Doctor turned to Rory.

"You're a doctor!" Rory countered.

"The _both_ of you are doctors," Evy reminded them, highly amused.

"Right, we're doctors," the Doctor squatted down as if he were going to catch the baby as it just fell out, "What do we do?"

Amy suddenly stopped panicking, "Ok, it's not coming."

"What?" the Doctor demanded, standing.

" _This_ is my life now and it just turned you white as a sheet. So _don't_ you call it dull again, _ever_. Ok?"

"Sorry."

"Yeah."

"Nice," Evy smiled as Amy grinned as well, walking off with Rory following.

"You knew she was faking didn't you?" the Doctor looked over at Evy.

"Yup," she popped the P.

"Why didn't you warn me?" he breathed, his hearts finally slowing down.

"What, and miss that?" Evy shook her head.

The Doctor rolled his eyes, looking over to see Mrs. Poggit heading for the ruins. They turned and followed after Amy, finding her sitting on a swing set. The Doctor jogged over and sat on the second one before Rory could get a chance. Evy just shook her head and rolled her eyes at him this time, getting a smile out of Rory.

"Now, we all know there's an elephant in the room…" the Doctor began.

"I _have_ to be this size, I'm having a _baby_ ," Amy argued.

"No, no. The hormones seem real, but no. Is nobody going to mention Rory's ponytail?" slowly a grin spread across his face as he looked up at Evy, "You hold him down, I'll cut it off?"

Amy laughed as Evy shook her head, Rory looked startled, "This from the man in the bow-tie," Rory countered.

"Bow-ties are cool," he stood, "Evy thinks so too, so it must be true," he stuck out his tongue at Rory.

"If I were you..." Evy cut in, her gaze on Mrs. Poggit as the old woman stared at the children, "I would _not_ let Mrs. Poggit babysit."

"What's she doing? What does she want?"

The birdsong began again.

"Oh, no, here we go," Amy groaned.

~8~

The Doctor and Evy were at the console, looking around, as Amy and Rory joined them, rubbing their arms, trying to stay warm.

"It's _really_ cold," Amy muttered, "Have you got any warm clothing?"

"What does it matter if we're cold?" the Doctor snapped, "We have to know what she is up to!"

"Hey," Evy put a hand on his arm, calming him down.

"Sorry," he shook his head, rubbing his face, "Sorry."

Evy turned to Amy and Rory, "There should be some blankets and things down there," she nodded to one end of the room, to a small chest as Amy and Rory turned to go, "I've got an idea," she turned to the Doctor, "Be right back…"

She turned and headed to the space under the console, looking through a few boxes before finding one with a crank. She reached for it and it fell off, opening the box inside it as well to reveal odd gadgets…but those she could work with. She grabbed an arm full of them and went back up the stairs, laying them out on the floor of the console. The Doctor turned to watch as she began to piece different bits and pieces together, breaking some and tossing others over her shoulder to the ground.

He smiled softly, watching her work, when she stood up, holding some sort of contraption with a crank on the side and eggbeaters on the end.

"I love it when you do that," he whispered to her, giving her a peck on the lips as Amy and Rory ran back over. He took the device and handed it to Rory, attaching a wire to the end of it, "Ah, Rory, wind…"

Evy handed the other end of the wire to Amy, "Attach that to the monitor."

"I was promised amazing worlds," Rory muttered, "Instead I get duff central heating and a weird, kitchen windup device."

"It's a generator Rory," Evy laughed, "Wind."

"It's not enough," Amy called from the monitor.

"Rory, wind," the Doctor repeated as Evy and him went to look at the monitor as well.

"Why is the Dream Lord picking on you?" Rory asked as he turned the crank, "Why us?"

The monitor screen bleeped to life showing star scape.

"Where are we?" Amy asked.

"We're in trouble," the Doctor breathed, taking Evy's hand in his own.

"What is _that_?" Rory frowned as a bright white sphere appeared on the monitor.

"A star," Evy shook her head, "A _cold_ star."

The Doctor ran to the door, throwing it open, letting in a blinding light and a freezing chill, "That's why we're freezing!" he called, "It's not a malfunction. We're drifting towards a cold sun. That's our danger for this version of reality."

Evy ran over to him, helping him close the door.

"This must be the dream," Amy said, "There is no such thing as a cold star. Stars burn."

"So's this one," the Doctor said, "It's just burning cold."

"Is that possible?" Rory asked.

Evy frowned, she was fairly certain that it wasn't.

"I can't know everything," the Doctor said, "Why does everybody expect me to, always?" he headed to the console and sat down dejectedly on the jump seat. Evy sighed and moved to sit in his lap, comforting him as he immediately placed his arms around her.

"Ok, this is something you haven't seen before," Rory reasoned, "So does that mean this is the dream?"

"I don't know, but there it is, and I'd say we've got about…" he checked his watch, "14 minutes until we crash into it. But that's not a problem."

"Because you know how to get us out of this?" Rory asked hopefully.

The Doctor whipped out his stethoscope, "Because we'll have frozen to death."

"Then what'll we do?" Amy asked.

"Stay as calm as you can," Evy told her, getting up as the Doctor moved to put the stethoscope on the console, "And whatever you do, do _not_ get sucked into it. For all we know _this_ might be the battle we have to lose."

"Oh, this is so you, isn't it?" Rory frowned, looking at the two of them.

"What?" the Doctor asked, glancing up.

"What, a weird new star, 14 minutes left to live, and only you two to save the day? I just wanted a nice village and a family."

The Dream Lord appeared behind the Doctor, "Oh, dear, Doctor. Dissent in the ranks," he smiled, "There was an old doctor from Gallifrey, who ended up throwing his life away. He let down his friends and..." he stopped at the sound of the birdsong, "Oh, no, we've run out of time. Don't spend too long there, or you'll…"

"Die?" Evy finished the rhyme.

"Catch your death here," the Dream Lord waved.

~8~

The Doctor and Evy looked around before noticing the quiet…the children were silent…

"Where have the children gone?" the Doctor asked as they ran up the steps to the ruins, only to see no one in sight.

"Doctor…" Evy began, walking towards a pile of dirt and cloth, much like a number of others scattered around the field. She pulled out her sonic and began to scan it, the Doctor walking over to her.

"Don't know," Rory shrugged as he and Amy caught up, "Playtime's probably over," he turned to Amy, "You see, _this_ is the real one. I just feel it. Don't you feel it?"

"I feel it both places," she admitted.

"I feel it here," Rory looked out at the town from the ruins, "It's just so tranquil and relaxed. Nothing bad could ever happen here."

"Not really me, though, is it? Would I be happy settling down in a place with a pub, two shops, and a really bad amateur dramatics society? That's why I got pregnant, so I don't have to see them doing 'Oklahoma,'" she looked over to see Evy kneeling beside the dust, reaching out to it grimly as the Doctor squatted beside her, "What are you doing? And what are those piles of dust?"

"Playtime's definitely over," Evy muttered, rubbing just a bit of dust through her fingers.

"Oh, my God," Amy gasped, realizing just what the dust piles were.

"What happened to them?" Rory asked, equally horrified.

The Doctor looked up to see the elderly walking along a path outside the home, "I think they did," he said, helping Evy to her feet.

"They're just old people," Amy replied.

"No," Evy shook her head, "They're just _very_ old people."

They turned and headed back down the steps of the ruins, "Sorry, Rory, I don't think you're what's been keeping them alive!" the Doctor called back.

The elderly lined up along the path, facing them as they approached, when suddenly the Dream Lord appeared off to the side, "Hello, peasants. What's this, attack of the old people? Oh, that's ridiculous. This has _got_ to be the dream, hasn't it? What do you think, Amy? Let's all jump under a bus and wake up in the TARDIS…" his gaze turned to Evy, "She'd want you to go first though."

"Leave her alone!" the Doctor threatened, pushing Evy behind him.

"Do that again," the Dream Lord clapped, "I love it when he does that. Tall dark hero, 'leave her alone.' Don't you Amy?"

"Just leave her!" Rory took a step in front of Amy as well.

"Yes, you're not quite so impressive," the Dream Lord gave a passing glance to Rory before focusing on Amy, "But I know where your heart lies, don't I, Amy Pond?"

"Shut up!" Amy glared at him, "Just shut up and leave me alone."

"But listen, you're in there. All the women in his life are…" he turned his gaze to Evy, "Has he told you about..."

"I know," Evy said steadily, cutting him off, seeing the pained look in the Doctor's eye. She knew what the Dream Lord was about to start on, she knew she wasn't the first love in the Doctor's life, he had cared deeply for and, in his own affectionate ways, loved many women in many ways, but she knew _she_ was his _truest_ love, the one he loved completely and deeply, the one with whom he felt _real_ love for the first time ever, and that was more than enough for her, "I know all about everyone. He can't hide anything from me."

"Oh can't he?" the Dream Lord raised an eyebrow.

"No."

"Even me?"

"Even you."

He smiled and laughed, "I like her…" he looked over at Amy and pouted, "Oh, but that's the problem isn't it, for dear little Amelia Pond?"

"Shut up!" Amy repeated.

"Your dreams…so interesting…shall I give you a taste of them Amy?" he smirked, "I think I shall."

Suddenly Evy put her hands over her ears, staggering back, "Evy!" the Doctor shouted, running to her side as she fell to the ground, asleep.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter...where, oh where, has Evy gone? No place safe, no place fun. Will the Doctor be able to save her? How will Evy react when this adventure has passed?


	12. Amy's Choice (Part 2)

"Evy!" the Doctor shouted, trying to wake her, "Evy! Evy wake up!"

"Amazing isn't it?" the Dream Lord remarked, looking at Amy, "How quickly his focus shifts from what's going on, from the danger around him, to her when she's in trouble."

"Wake her up," the Doctor glared at the Dream Lord as he held Evy in his arms, "You wake her up right now!"

"Why should I?"

"You can't leave her like this."

"And why not?" he raised an eyebrow.

"Because I know who you are," the Doctor's jaw tensed.

"Course you don't."

"Course I do. No idea how you can be here, but there's only one person in the Universe who hates me as much as you do."

The Dream Lord frowned and glanced over the Doctor's shoulder, "Never mind me! Maybe you SHOULD worry about them."

They looked over to see the elderly of the village advancing. They looked over to the Dream Lord, to see he was gone, and back to the elderly.

"Hi…" Rory began as the Doctor picked Evy up into his arms, her head lulling to fall on his chest.

"Hello," the Doctor looked over at Mrs. Poggit, "We were wondering where you went. To get reinforcements! Are you alright? You look a bit tense."

"Hello, Mr. Nainby!" Rory tried, taking a step towards an elderly man.

"Rory..." the Doctor warned.

"Mr. Nainby ran the sweet shop. He used to slip me the odd free toffee…" Mr. Nainby lifted him by the collar of his shirt with one hand, "Did I not say thank you?" and threw Rory backwards into the mud, "How did he do that?" Rory scrambled to his feet.

"I suspect he's not himself," the Doctor backed up, "Don't get comfortable here. You may have to run…" he looked down at Evy and over to Rory, "Can you take her? If it comes to that?" he looked at Rory, "I'll buy you as much time as I can, but you've _got_ to take her."

Rory swallowed and nodded, "Yeah, I will."

"Rory…" the Doctor said seriously, looking straight at him, "Keep her safe, she…" he swallowed hard, trying to find the words to describe to Rory how important Evy was to him, "She's to me what Amy is to you."

It didn't even come close.

Rory nodded.

"Can't we just talk to them?" Amy asked as the Doctor passed Evy over into Rory's arms, "There is an eye in her mouth!"

The Doctor spun around to see a green eye sticking out of the mouths of the elderly and flashed the sonic at them, "There's a whole creature inside her. Inside all of them. They've been there for years, living and waiting."

"That is disgusting," Rory grimaced, "They're not going to be peeping out of anywhere else are they?"

Mrs. Poggit leaned forward and shot a green mist at them. Rory moved back quickly, nudging Amy back as well while the Doctor ran in front of them, holding up his arms, "RUN!" he called to them and they ran off. He looked back, waiting till they were far enough away to turn back to the crowd, "Ok, leave them. Talk to me. Talk to me. You are Eknodines, a proud, ancient race, you're better than this. Why are you hiding away here? Why aren't you at home?"

"We were driven from our pl..." Mrs. Poggit began.

"…planet by upstart neighbors."

"So we've..." Mr. Nainby started.

"…been living here inside the bodies of old humans for...years. No wonder they live so long, you're keeping them alive."

"We were humbled and destroyed," Mrs. Poggit continued, "Now we will do the same to others."

"Ok, makes sense, I suppose. Credible enough, could be real."

A man on a bicycle came up alongside the Doctor, "Morning!"

Mrs. Poggit turned and shot the green mist at the man, turning him to dust before the Doctor's eyes.

"You need to leave this planet," he turned to her but she just screeched.

~8~

Amy and Rory raced back to their cottage as fast as a pregnant woman and a man carrying someone could go.

"Wait!" Amy called, resting against a post, "Stop!"

"After all I've done for the over-70s in this village…" Rory muttered, looking back at a group of elderly that had followed them before noticing an old woman waiting at their front door, "Ok, this is crazy…" Rory went over to Amy, gently placing Evy against the post, Amy holding her up a bit, "She loves me, I fixed her depression, she's just a little old lady."

"Mrs. Hammill, we don't understand..." Amy began but Mrs. Hammill opened her mouth to reveal an eye as well.

"I'll deal with this one, Chubs..." Rory called over, "Now..." Mrs. Hammill released the mist and Rory dashed back behind the hedges, picking up a piece of wood, but hesitating as Mrs. Hammill approached, "I can't hit her."

"Whack her!"

Rory winced and swung, knocking the old woman to the ground. He ran over to Amy, picking up Evy, as they ran inside their house. Rory ran through to the sitting room, placing Evy down on their sofa as Amy dead bolted the door and collapsed back onto the stairs.

"We just ran away," Amy began, "We just abandoned the Doctor. Don't ever call me 'chubs' again. We don't see him for years and somehow we don't really connect anymore and then…then he takes the bullet for us…"

"You know the Doctor," Rory mumbled, coming over to stand by her, making sure she was ok, "He's Mr. Cool."

~8~

The Doctor was practically falling over his own two feet as he tried to run down the road from the elderly, fighting the birdsong off as hard as he could. He nearly fell into a butcher's shop, locking the door, and flipping the sign to closed when the Dream Lord appeared.

"Oh, I love a good butcher's don't you?" he asked the Doctor, "We've got to use these places or they'll shut down. But you're probably a vegetarian, you big flop-haired wuss."

The Doctor grabbed a key from a shelf and tried to unlock a door in the back, "Oh, pipe down. I'm busy."

"Maybe you need a little sleep," he smirked, the birdsong returning. The Doctor slipped to the floor, "Oh, wait a moment..." it stopped and he stood, "If you fall asleep here, several dozen angry pensioners will destroy you with their horrible eye things," he ran into the hall behind the counter, his hands covering his ears, "Fingers in the ear? Brilliant! Didn't work for your Link though, did it?" he slid down the wall, "What's next, shouting boo?" the elderly began to enter, "Come in. Come in," they made their way around the counter to him, "Yes, we've got lots at 'steak' here this week. Lots at steak. Get it?" the Doctor's eyes widened as the Dream Lord's words filtered over to him…Evy! He jolted off the floor, grabbing the door for support, "Are these jokes wasted on you?"

He propelled himself down the hall to a freezer door, sliding to the floor as the seniors came closer, "Wait, stop..." he reached into his pocket…

"Oh, I can't watch," the Dream Lord put his hands over his eyes.

The Doctor stood with effort, using the sonic to unlock the door, locking it behind him just as he fell asleep, the seniors on the other side.

~8~

The Doctor woke with a snap on the TARDIS floor, Amy and Rory on either side of him.

"Ah, it's colder," Amy shivered, pulling her blanket closer to her.

"Evy!" the Doctor shouted, looking around, seeing Evy lying against the railing. He ran over to her, pushing her hair back as he stroked her face, "Evy...Evy wake up! We're on the TARDIS, you have to wake up."

But she didn't move.

"Why isn't she waking up?" Rory asked, "She fell asleep in Leadworth didn't she?"

"If she's not here or there…" Amy began slowly, "Where is she?"

The Doctor swallowed, "A different world…a reality just for her I'd imagine."

"But why?"

"The three of us have to agree, now, which is the dream," he said suddenly, cradling Evy in his arms.

"It's this, here," Rory said.

"He could be right," Amy agreed, "The science is all wrong here, burning ice?"

"No, no, no ice can burn, sofas can read, it's a big Universe," the Doctor shook his head, "We have to agree which battle to lose. All of us, now."

"Ok, which world do you think is real?"

"This one."

"No, the other one!" Rory countered.

"Yeah, but are you disagreeing, or competing?" he snapped at him. He wasn't in the mood to argue, he needed to solve this, now, and get Evy back. The only way he could see that happening was if they finished the Dream Lord's challenge.

"Competing over what?" Amy frowned. But the boys didn't pay her any mind. She groaned and got up, walking over to the other blankets on the console.

"There's nothing to compete over Rory," the Doctor said quietly.

Rory glanced over at Amy, " _She's_ nothing?"

"That's not what I meant. I'm not competing, because…" he looked down at Evy, his gaze softening, "I've already got my prize."

Rory looked down at Evy as well.

The Doctor sighed and shook his head, he needed to focus. He checked his watch, "Nine minutes till impact," before gently laying Evy down and standing up.

"What temperature is it?" Amy asked as Rory stood too.

"Outside? Brr. How many noughts have you got? Inside? I don't know but I can't feel my feet."

"Can't we call for help?" Rory asked, holding up the phone.

"Yeah…" the Doctor took it from him, "The Universe is really small, bound to be someone nearby!" he tapped Rory on the head with it before hanging up.

"Put these on, both of you," Amy threw a blanket with a hole cut out at the Doctor but he just took his and knelt down next to Evy, slipping it on her instead. Amy looked away, taking one over to Rory and putting it on him.

"Oh, a poncho," Rory commented, "The biggest crime against fashion since lederhosen."

Amy slipped one of her own over her head as the Doctor made himself another one, "Here we go!" she walked over to Rory as the Doctor came over, "My boys and my girl...my poncho gang. If we're going to die, let's die looking like a Peruvian folk band."

The frozen star loomed closer in the monitor before them.

"We're not going to die," Rory said.

"No, we're not," the Doctor agreed, checking his watch, "But our time's running out. If we fall asleep here, we're in trouble…" he started to pace, "If we could divide up, then we'd have an active presence in each world, but the Dream Lord is switching us between the worlds. Why, why, what's the logic?"

The Dream Lord appeared in a poncho as well, pacing alongside him, "Good idea, veggie, let's divide the last of you three up, so I can have a little chat with our lovely companion. Maybe I'll keep your Link asleep and keep Amy so you can have Pointy Nose to yourself for all eternity, should you manage to clamber aboard some sort of reality."

The birdsong began again, but only Rory and the Doctor seemed able to hear it.

"Can you hear that?" Rory asked.

"What?" Amy looked at him, startled, "No."

"Amy, don't be scared, we'll be back," the Doctor told her before falling to the floor just across from Evy as Rory fell down next to Amy, "Watch over Evy…"

"Rory, Doctor, don't leave me," Amy begged.

"Amy, we're going to have fun aren't we?" the Dream Lord smirked.

"No, please, not alone…"

~8~

Rory woke up on the stairs next to a still sleeping Amy. He glanced into the sitting room to see Evy still on the sofa when there was a sudden crash as the seniors tried to break through the window, trying to get inside. He looked between Evy and Amy before running over to Amy, lifting her under the shoulders and dragging her up the stairs one by one, apologizing for every bump.

He pulled her around the corner and into the nearest doorway, the nursery they'd set up for their child. It was a cheery yellow room, neutral, they wanted it to be a surprise. He set her down in the middle of the room before running down the stairs, back to the sitting room, only to see the seniors had already broken in and two were spraying the mist at Evy who had already started to disintegrate. He ran back up the stairs, unable to do anything but shut the door and lock it by stuffing a chair under the knob. He looked out the window to see the elderly trying to get in the other side of the house, some even surrounding the TARDIS. He fell onto the chair, fidgeting nervously…

The Doctor was _not_ going to like this.

~8~

The Doctor woke suddenly in the freezer, listening to the door as he pushed himself up. He pulled out his sonic screwdriver, flashing it against the door, "Ok, where is it?" the flashing of the sonic quickened and he threw the door open, shooting out the lights, and running through the confusion, out onto the street.

He cut through a yard and came to a different street where an old man was trying to get into a VW bus, a man inside it, trying to close the door.

"Oh, help, somebody!" the man shouted.

"You couldn't live near the shops, could you?" he muttered, racing to the bus. He pushed the senior away and climbed into the driver's seat, "It's ok, it's only me," he turned on the bus and drove through the village, slowing down when he saw two young women surrounded by the elderly as well. The man in the back slid the side door open as the Doctor shouted out to them, "Get in, get in, get in. Quickly, quickly, over here. Quickly, come on, jump in. Quick get in now, quickly. Hurry up," the two women ran alongside the car, jumping in as the man closed the door behind them, "Are we in?" he looked back, only to see a young family when he turned back, cowering by their house while elderly approached them. He stopped, the door opening again, "Come on, let's go, quickly, all four, that's it everyone in!"

As soon as they were in, he was off again.

~8~

Inside the TARDIS Amy sat on the steps, keeping vigil over the Doctor, Rory, and Evy when the Dream Lord appeared beside her.

"Poor Amy," he muttered, "He always leaves you, doesn't he? Alone in the dark. Never apologizes."

"He doesn't have to," she got up and stepped away.

"That's good, because he never will. And now he's left you with me. Spooky old, not-to-be-trusted me," he appeared in a chair, lounging there, now in a robe that showed his chest, "Anything could happen."

"Who are you and what do you want?" Amy turned to face him, "The Doctor knows you, but he's not telling me who you are. And he always does. Takes him awhile sometimes, but he tells me. So you're something different."

"Oh, is _that_ who you think you are?" the Dream Lord laughed, "The one he trusts?"

"Actually, yes."

"The one girl in the Universe to whom the Doctor tells everything?"

"Yes."

"So what's his name?" he smirked, nodding at Evy, "She knows," he disappeared and reappeared in his tweed outfit, standing at the Doctor's feet, "You think he doesn't know? How you feel about Evy? How you dream of replacing her?"

"That's not true."

"I've seen you're dreams Amy," he reminded her, "You can't control how loud you think when you're asleep, and I _can_ read your mind you know, not often, not well, out of practice me, but I can, especially dreams in the TARDIS. This old box operates on a telepathic circuit, shares a psychic link with its pilot, it can't help but amplify your thoughts when you shout them out the way _you_ do in your sleep. In which case...I can hear you. I know you dream of you and the Doctor traveling around in the TARDIS forever. No Evy or Rory to speak of," he knelt by Evy and looked at her softly before glancing at Amy, "Did you like my little gift?"

"Gift?" she frowned, feeling both embarassed and startled that the TARDIS had magnified her dreams to the point where this strange man had been able to see them from somewhere.

"I took her away," he said innocently, "Isn't that what you _really_ dream of? She's gone, in both worlds. Asleep, locked away in a little world of her own."

"Why did you do that?"

"I couldn't take away Rory. You have to pick Amy, between the worlds of the two men in your heart. Rory in the house in Leadworth or the Doctor in the TARDIS in space. But here's a secret…" he leaned in a bit, "They may be in your heart…but Evy…she's the _only_ one in the Doctor's."

Amy looked away as he laughed, "'I want someone to look at me the way you do Evy,'" he mimicked her past words to the Doctor, "You think they don't know it's the Doctor? That you want _the Doctor_ to look at you the way he does Evy."

Amy glared at him.

"You think he would keep you if _she_ didn't want you here?" he asked her again, nodding at Evy's prone form, "The moment she wants you gone, you think he'll put up a fight?"

"Yes," she whispered.

The Dream Lord snorted, "No. She's the one person he would go to the ends of the Universe and back to please. Now…knowing that…which one of these men would you _really_ choose? Look at them. You ran away with a handsome hero even though he already had his damsel. Would you _really_ give him up for a bumbling country doctor who thinks the only thing he needs to be interesting is a _ponytail_?"

"Stop it!"

"But maybe it's better than loving and losing the Doctor," the Dream Lord remarked, standing, "Pick a world and this nightmare will all be over," he looked down at Rory and the Doctor, "They'll listen to you. It's you they're waiting for. Amy's men. Amy's choice."

And then he disappeared.

Amy bent down beside Rory, straightening his poncho before looking over at the Doctor. She could feel her eyes fill with tears as she looked at him and where he was. Rory was beside her, always beside her, but the Doctor…he was lying across from Evy, his hand outstretched under him, holding Evy's in his own, connected to her even asleep.

She fell back onto the steps, looking away from the Doctor and Evy.

The Dream Lord was wrong…they weren't her men. And she realized, she'd been fooling herself into hoping for something, trying to convince herself it was possible, but…now, looking at them…she realized…

The Doctor always was, and always would be, Evy's.

Not hers.

~8~

The Doctor pulled up to a church, letting everyone out, "Everybody, out, out, out! Into the church, that's right. Don't answer the door," he slammed the door shut and drove off back to the village, towards Amy and Rory's cottage, the bus bouncing violently as he went.

The Dream Lord appeared in the backseat, wearing a racing uniform, "It's make your mind up time in both worlds."

"Bye," the Doctor cut in, "I need to find my friends."

"Friends?" he scoffed, "Is that the right word for the people you acquire? Friends are people you stay in touch with. Your friends never see you again once they've grown up. If it weren't for your Link, you wouldn't have any friends left to keep. But perhaps you prefer it the old way, the old man prefers the company of the young, does he not?"

And then he disappeared

The Doctor's jaw tensed as he pulled up to the cottage, only to see the elderly laying siege to it. He looked around carefully for a way in, "Ok…" he muttered, getting out and ducking behind the bus.

~8~

Rory was sitting on the floor of the nursery, cradling Amy's head in his lap when she woke up.

"How did I get up here?" Amy looked around, startled.

"I carried you. I'm afraid you may experience some bruising."

"Where's Evy and the Doctor?"

"I don't know where the Doctor is…"

"And Evy?" Amy asked.

Rory looked away.

Amy gasped, "No…"

"I don't know how we're going to get out of this. So before something happens to us…I want to do something for you," he turned around and unzipped a bag, taking out a pair of scissors. He reached back and cut off his ponytail.

"I was starting to like it," Amy remarked, tears in her eyes, though he couldn't be sure if it was from finding out Evy was gone in this world or the loss of the hair.

There was a squeaking sound by the window and they looked up in alarm, only to see the Doctor climb in, "It's alright, I had to stop off at the butcher's," he fell to the floor.

"What are we going to do?" Rory asked.

"I don't know. I thought the freezing TARDIS was real but now I'm not so sure…" he trailed off, looking around, "Where's Evy?"

Amy and Rory fell silent.

The Doctor spun around as though, perhaps, he might have missed her somewhere else in the room, "Where is she?" he demanded, "Amy? Rory?"

"They got her…" Rory admitted, getting up.

"What?" he breathed, feeling as though someone had punched him in the gut, "What do you mean _they got her_?"

"They broke in…" Rory began, unable to look up at him, "I only had enough time to get to one of them and…"

Suddenly he was thrown back, into the wall, the Doctor shoving him there, his arm against Rory's neck, "She's _dead_?!"

"Doctor!" Amy shrieked, pushing herself up and to Rory's side, trying to push the angry man away.

"You let her get _killed_!" he nearly spat, "How _could_ you!? She…"

"It was her or Amy," Rory gasped.

The Doctor stumbled back, falling to the ground and scrambling to the other side of the room, wanting to get as far away from Rory as possible.

"She's gone?" he whispered, blinking rapidly, trying to hold back tears.

"I'm sorry…" Rory rubbed his throat as Amy checked his neck.

"No…" he shook his head, "No, no, no, no. She…she _can't_ be."

"I saw it. The gas got her."

"No!" he snapped, "She can't be gone. I…I would have _felt_ it. I should have _known_ …" he shook his head frantically, "This is the dream."

"What?" Amy shook her head, not understanding, "You just said the oth…"

" _This_ is the dream! It _has_ to be."

"What if it's not?" Rory asked.

"Then all the better," he replied darkly.

Amy stared at him in shock, hearing him talk like that was making her stomach squirm…and clench…and hurt…

"I think the baby's starting!" she gasped, falling to the floor.

"Honestly?" Rory asked, dropping to her side as the Doctor just turned to look away from them.

"Would I make it up at a time like this?" Amy snapped at Rory.

"Well, you do have a history of..." he began, but she glared at him, "Being very lovely," Amy cried out as Rory looked at the Doctor, "Why are they so desperate to kill us?"

"They're scared," he replied grimly, "Fear generates savagery."

A piece of garden statuary flew through the left window. Rory jumped up, going to check it out, when Mrs. Poggit appeared, shooting a green mist at him. He fell back with a groan, Amy scrambling to his side as the Doctor just pushed himself up and bashed Mrs. Poggit with a lamp, knocking her off the roof.

"Rory!" Amy called, at his side.

"No!" he gasped, looking at his hand as it started to dissolve into dust, "I'm not ready."

"Stay," Amy begged.

The Doctor looked on in stony silence. Even if this _was_ a dream…losing his Link...losing _Evy_...he couldn't muster up _anything_.

Rory looked over at her, tears in his eyes, "Look after our baby," he whispered before he turned to dust.

"No…" Amy gasped, she'd seen it, there in his eyes, magnified by his tears…that look that she'd dreamt of…that look that told he she was someone's world, and now she was about to lose it, "No. Come back," she looked up at the Doctor, "Save him," she pleaded, "You save everyone. You always do. It's what you do."

"Not always," he replied.

"Then what is the point of you?" Amy asked, glaring at him before touching a pile of dust that was Rory. She closed her eyes, taking a breath and pushing herself to her feet as the Doctor watched, "This is the dream. Definitely, this one. Now, if we die here, we wake up, yeah?"

"Unless we just die."

"Either way, this is my only chance of seeing him again. This is the dream."

"How do you know?"

"Because if this is real life, I don't want it. I _don't_ want it."

He nodded, "Now you understand," and with that he turned and walked out of the room, Amy following him. They strode out of the house, the elderly doing nothing to stop them.

"Why aren't they attacking?" Amy asked.

"Either because this _is_ just a dream, or because they know what we're about to do," he replied, walking to the bus. Amy stopped him and held out her hand, "This could be the real world…" he warned her.

"It can't be," she sniffled, "Rory isn't here. I didn't know. I didn't, I didn't, I honestly _didn't_ , till right now. I just want him."

"Good," he said, handing her the keys.

Amy walked around the car to the driver's seat and started it, the Doctor sliding in the passenger's side.

"I love Rory, and I never told him, but now he's gone," was all Amy said before she slammed her foot down on the gas and sped off, smashing through her fence and straight at the front door.

~8~

The Doctor snapped his eyes open, his face covered in frost. He looked over to see Evy there and painstakingly made his way towards her. Amy and Rory woke slowly, Amy reaching forwards to clasp Rory's hand.

"So...you chose this world," the Dream Lord applauded, "Well done. You got it right. And with only seconds left. Fair's fair. Let's warm you up," he walked over to the console and powered it up, "I hope you've enjoyed your little fictions. It all came out of your imagination, so I'll leave you to ponder on that. I have been defeated. I shall withdraw. Farewell."

"Wait!" the Doctor shouted, forcing himself to his knees beside Evy, the Dream Lord turned to face him, "Bring Evy back."

"I don't know what you mean," he smirked.

"Evy's still asleep," the Doctor glared as Amy and Rory began to pick themselves up, "I want her back."

"We don't always get what we want."

"You take me to her, now," he threatened.

"And why should I?" he glared as well.

"I know you, and I know where you've put her," he said, pulling Evy into his lap, "And you know what she's going through…you _like_ her. You said it yourself. You want her as safe as I do…so let me save her."

The Dream Lord eyed him for a long while before they suddenly appeared in a dark corridor.

"Doctor?" Amy breathed, looking down at herself, not pregnant or frozen, "Where are we?"

The Doctor didn't answer as he just strode down the hall.

"We're in a hospital," Rory commented, looking around, it was far too sterile to be something too far from that.

"An institute," the Doctor corrected, heading down to the very last door at the end of the hall, "The Mason Institute."

"The what?" Amy frowned.

"It's a mental institute," Rory shook his head, "One of my mates in college worked there."

"But Doctor why are we here?"

"For Evy," he said, sonicing the heavy door and shoving it open.

A scream reached them.

Someone was screaming.

The Doctor ran into the room, Amy and Rory stopping short at the door at the sight before them.

Evy was lying on the ground, in a short hospital gown, a straight jacket wrapped around her as she curled in on herself. She was crying and screaming and shuddering as though in the most terrible of pain.

The Doctor was knelt at her side, "Evy…" he whispered, reaching forward but she flinched back, shuffling so she was now sitting pressed against the corner.

"Not real," she mumbled, her eyes clenched shut, "It's not real…another trick…it's not real…"

"Evy," he quickly moved to her side, kneeling with a leg on either side of her, "Evy…" he reached out taking her face in his hands.

"Please no…" she whispered, trying to lean away from him, "Not another trick…"

"I'm real Evy," he breathed, "I'm _here_ …I'm _really_ here…"

They could hear his voice breaking as he spoke to her.

"No," she shook her head, "You died…the star…the water and fire…"

She sobbed.

He reached out and placed his forehead on her own, forcing his way into her mind, pushing out the reality the Dream Lord had created. The vile man had forced her back into the day when Donna had created the alternate reality. Locked her inside the feelings the other her had suffered with when his previous incarnation had died in that world. He'd made her think her Link was dead.

"Shh…" he whispered, "Shh, shh, shh…"

Moments later her cries subsided, "Doctor?" she breathed, her voice hoarse.

"I'm here," he reached out and hugged her, Evy burying her face in his neck, crying in joy, "I'm going to get you out of here."

He reached out, scooping her up in his arms, and turning to walk out. Amy and Rory stepped back allowing him to pass, following after him as a bright light filled the room and…

~8~

They were back on the cold TARDIS, all of them half frozen again. Amy and Rory got up off the floor, kneeling as the Doctor hugged Evy tightly to him, relieved to see her awake.

Amy suddenly reached out and hugged Rory to her as well, "Oh!" Rory cried out, a bit startled, but hugged her back, "Oh, right. This is good. I am liking this. Was it something I said?" Amy pulled back, just looking at him, "Can you tell me what it was so I can use it in emergencies? And maybe birthdays."

There was a whirring noise as they looked up to see Evy and the Doctor working the controls, "What are we doing now?" Amy asked

"Blowing up the TARDIS," Evy said.

"What?" Rory's eyes widened.

"Notice how _helpful_ the Dream Lord was?" the Doctor countered, "Ok, there was misinformation, red herrings, malice, and I could have done without the limerick, but he was always very keen to make us choose between dream and reality."

"What are you doing?" Amy scrambled to her feet.

"But…the Dream Lord conceded," Rory looked around, seeing no sign of him, "This _isn't_ the dream!"

"Yes, it is!" Evy replied.

"Stop!" Amy shouted.

"Stars burning cold," the Doctor muttered, shaking his head, "Do me a favor! The Dream Lord has no power over the real world."

"There was only a choice between _two_ _dreams_ ," Evy explained, not willing to bring up the third world, as far as she was concerned, it hadn't involved the others, it wasn't meant to be involved in the choice.

"How do you know that?" Amy frowned.

"Because we know who he is," the Doctor said as he and Evy flipped a lever…the TARDIS exploded…

~8~

The Doctor was leaning against the console, holding out his hand for him and Evy to look at something as Amy and Rory came down the steps.

"Any questions?" the Doctor asked.

"What happened?" Rory looked at Evy, "In Mason? Why were you there?"

Evy sighed, "A long time ago I ingested some human medicine that messed up my system…alien biology and all. When the doctors at the hospitals tried to treat it, it just made it worse. I could always hear the Doctor in my mind and the medicine made it impossible to block him out so I started speaking whatever he was saying or doing to relieve the tension in my mind. The doctors thought I was a personality case, sent me off to Mason."

"And the crying?" Amy asked, not wanting to think about the screaming, the pain that had been in Evy's eyes. It was terrible, and she was sure it would be something that would haunt her forever. She _never_ wanted to see Evy like that again.

"A friend of ours had an alternate reality built around her," the Doctor said, knowing how much Evy wouldn't want to talk about it, "In that world, I died before I could meet Evy…and the Link…" he took a breath, ready to explain more about their connection, how deep it went, "When one of us dies, it causes excruciating pain for the other until we find away to…basically end our lives. The Dream Lord tapped into her psyche and trapped her in that experience."

Amy swallowed hard, looking away from Evy and over at the Doctor's hand, "What's that?" she peered at six tiny glittering bits lying there. Now she knew, she _never_ had a chance with the Doctor, and...suprisingly...she didn't feel bitter or angry or even hurt at that. Not anymore. Not after what she'd lost, what she'd gotten back.

"Specks of psychic pollen from the candle meadows of Karass don Slava," Evy smiled, thankful for the change of topic.

"Must have been hanging around for ages," the Doctor concluded, "Fell in the time rotor, heated up and induced a dream state for all of us."

Evy reached out and he gently deposited the specks in her hand. She turned and walked over to the door of the TARDIS, blowing the pollen out into space.

"So _that_ was the Dream Lord then, those little specks?" Rory frowned.

"No, no," the Doctor shook his head as Evy walked back over to him, "No. Sorry, wasn't it obvious? The Dream Lord was _me_. Psychic pollen, it's a mind parasite. It feeds on everything dark in you. Gives it a voice, turns it against you. I'm 907. It had a lot to go on."

"Why didn't it feed on Evy? Isn't she as old as you?"

"First off Rory," Evy cut in, "Never talk about a girl's age."

He nodded, smiling apologetically.

The Doctor smiled as well, pulling Evy back to rest against him, her back to him, resting his chin on her head, "Evy always just finds a way to make things right…find the good in the bad," he looked down at her, "She's like my own personal moon, lighting up the darkness."

She smiled softly at his play on her name.

"And why didn't it feed on us, too?" Amy asked, looking at her and Rory.

"Darkness in you pair?" he laughed.

"It would've starved to death in an instant," Evy told them.

"We choose our friends with great care. Otherwise Evy's stuck with only my company, and you know how that works out."

"Earache."

"But those things he said about you," Amy frowned, sadness in her eyes, "You don't think any of that's true?"

The Doctor didn't answer.

Evy turned in his arms and looked up at him, "Sometimes he does…but that's why he has me to remind him he's _wrong_ …which I'm about to do, right now," she looked at him seriously, "First off, I love your tawdry quirks, they make me smile and they make me laugh, and I know how much you love it when I do both of those," she smiled as well for good measure, earning a small one from him, "Secondly, both the TARDIS and I _will_ _kill you_ if you dare call her a madcap vehicle again. She is astounding and amazing and the fact that she bounded to you as her pilot can only emphasize how wonderful you are," the TARDIS gave a gently hum as though agreeing, "Thirdly, I rather enjoy your cockamamie hair. Its long enough that I can run my fingers though it and play with it and the color…it reminds me of your last eyes," she fiddled with the hair at the nape of his neck, "Forth, your coat suits you and the bow-tie rather becomes you," she slid her arms down and gave his bow-tie a little tug, straightening it, "Fifth…I actually think he was right about this…" the Doctor frowned, "Purple would be a lovely color for K9, we should call Sarah Jane up and ask her to paint him for us," the Doctor let out a hearty laugh at that, "And finally…the _only_ way I could _ever_ look at you is like I am, _right now_ ," he looked at her, feeling his breath catch in his throat at the look of pure love, happiness, and pride shining through her eyes as she smiled softly at him.

He gave her a quick kiss, "I've never been happier to be proven wrong."

Evy nodded, pleased, before turning to Amy, seeing something dawning on Rory's face, "Amy, I think Rory might have a question for you…"

The Doctor grinned and spun the girl to face her fiancé, "And seeing as the answer is about to change his life, we think you should give him your full attention."

Evy gave her a little shove towards Rory as she and the Doctor stepped back to watch.

"Yeah," he nodded, "Actually, yeah."

"There it is!" the Doctor grinned.

"'Cos what I don't get is you blew up the TARDIS, that stopped that dream, the Doctor getting Evy out of Mason stopped the other, but what stopped the Leadworth dream?" Rory turned to Amy.

"We crashed the camper van," Amy said.

"Oh, right, I don't remember that bit."

"No, you weren't there, you were already..."

"Already what?"

"Dead," Amy flinched, "You died in that dream. Mrs. Poggit got you."

"Ok…" he nodded slowly, "But how did you know it was a dream? Before you crashed the van, how did you know you wouldn't just die?"

"I didn't," Amy said quietly.

"Oh!"

"Yeah."

"Oh…" he reached out and took her hand.

"Yeah, 'Oh,'" Amy looked down.

Rory lifted her chin and kissed her while the Doctor and Evy watched with a smile.

"So..." the Doctor asked as Evy applauded, "Well, then, where now? Or should we just pop down to the swimming pool for a few lengths?"

"I don't know," Rory grinned, happy, "Anywhere's good for me. I'm happy anywhere. It's up to Amy this time. Amy's choice."

Amy smiled, "Actually…Evy should pick."

"Me?" Evy asked.

"Yeah. But uh…not right now…all that dream business made me tired."

She yawned and Evy laughed, "You two go take a nap, we'll just fiddle around here."

Amy nodded before she and Rory walked off, hand-in-hand, back to their rooms.

The Doctor looked down at the console, only to see the Dream Lord smiling back up at him in the reflection. He swallowed hard and looked away.

Evy stepped up, taking his hand in her own. He smiled down at her before looking back at his reflection nervously, breathing a sigh of relief when he saw it was himself again.

"You knew," he said, "All along, that both realities were dreams, didn't you?"

"Ever since the Dream Lord mentioned _both_ worlds," she nodded.

"Why didn't you say anything?"

She gave him a soft smile, "Because I _know_ you, there are some things you like figuring out on your own. And I knew you'd figure it out."

"I'm sorry," he said quietly to her, unable to look at her out of shame.

"For what?" she frowned.

"Putting you in that nightmare. Not the Leadworth or the TARDIS one…the…the _other_ one."

"I know why you did it Doctor. You don't need to apologize."

He looked at her sharply, "I put you through _hell_! How can you not hate me?"

She shook her head, taking him by the hand and pulling him away from the console. She led him through the TARDIS and into their room, wanting a bit of privacy. She turned around to face him, taking his hands in her own as she spoke to him, "All those nightmares, they were _you_ , they were your deepest fear, that you don't deserve love. You forced Amy to pick someone else and you forced me to that cell where I couldn't feel you anymore. You were trying to scare me away. You were trying to push me away. You don't think you deserve my love after everything you've done, with Gallifrey, with Rose, with…Terrin."

He flinched, looking away, but Evy reached up and turned his head to face her, caressing his cheek, "But you forget Theta," she used his name, drawing his attention completely to her, "I _know_ you. I've seen _everything_ you've done. I've lived through everything you have with you. I've seen you at your _best_ , and I've loved you at your _worst_. Nothing, and I mean _nothing_ , would _ever_ make me hate you," she stared at him, making him see the truth in her eyes, "I have always, and will always, _love_ you."

He looked deeply into her eyes, seeing the truth there as he felt it through the Link, her overwhelming love for him, "I love you too Luna," he told her, stroking her cheek as well, "I will till the end of time and beyond."

She smirked, nodding, "Good," she pulled him into a hug, "Because I'm not going anywhere," she pulled away, her smirk turning into a sly grin, "…and speaking of not going anywhere…" she looked over her shoulder at the door and focused her powers, shutting and locking it. She'd been practicing. It seemed that ever since the strain she'd put on herself during the Midnight incident, small uses of her powers didn't seem to tax her as much.

She turned back to the Doctor, a meaningful look in her eyes as she slowly pushed him back towards their bed, proceeding to kiss him so deeply that his toes curled...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In my Academic Series, I had it that the Doctor and Professor would never do anything to put the other in true danger, not even in their dreams. Here though, this is a different Doctor. This is the one who lost Rose and didn't have a Time Lady there for him, one who just kept losing people, who suffered over what he'd done to his people. Here, his subconscious still can't believe he's found his Link and that she actually loves him. But, luckily for him, Evy's been in his head for centuries, she KNOWS him and how he thinks, she would see the true reason she'd been put in that world. And she definitely won't let him get away with thinking that he doesn't deserve love. Even though the episode was Amy's 'choice' I felt like the psychic pollen fed on everything dark, especially in the Doctor, so it would manifest his fears as well, taking away the one he loved and, essentially, hurting her as well. That's pretty dark stuff. On top of taking his own guilt and fears that he doesn't deserve love and twisting that as well.
> 
> And here, what really shocks the Doctor into realizing the worlds are dreams is not feeling Evy 'die' in Leadworth. I've given a taste of what it's like for a Time Lord when their Link dies, and he didn't feel it, because it wasn't real. I also made this episode not just an exploration of the Doctor's fears, but a resolution for Amy, the Doctor making her realize she doesn't love him, but Rory. She's finally gotten over it and her bout of jealousy with Evy, she's seen how deep the Link goes, she's seen the Doctor react to her in danger, she's had his subconscious basically spell it out to her. And now she knows, and she realizes what Evy was trying to show her, Rory. I took the 'feeding on everything dark in you' to mean that the Doctor was the one who made the worlds, but based on the people in them. The TARDIS for Amy, Leadworth for Rory, the Mason Institute for Evy.
> 
> Next chapter...the Time Lords remember San Helios. Amy's not the only one who gets taken. Ambrose may possibly think the Doctor is mad, more so than usual.


	13. The Hungry Earth

Evy stood at the monitor, garbed in black with a green shirt, looking at the coordinates for their latest trip as the Doctor gathered Rory and Amy by the doors of the TARDIS. Amy had been begging them to go to Rio and the Doctor finally agreed to take them…oh they were all going to be in for a surprise when they realized they were actually still in England…

"Behold..." the Doctor shouted, throwing the doors open, "Rio!"

They stepped out, looking around to see a cemetery as Evy came to join them.

"Nuh uh," Amy shook her head.

"Not really getting the sunshine carnival vibe," Rory added.

"No," the Doctor stepped forward, "Ooh, feel that, though?" he turned back, holding a hand out to Evy as she stepped out of the TARDIS.

As soon as her feet touched the ground she frowned, "What _is_ that?" she looked down.

The Doctor started bouncing in place, "Ground does feel strange doesn't it?"

Evy looked up to tell him to stop bouncing when something caught her eye, "Now that's weird…" she walked away, pulling the Doctor with her.

"What's weird?" Rory frowned.

"Blue grass," Evy replied, eyeing the small patches around them.

"Stop trying to distract us," Amy rolled her eyes, "We're in the wrong place…" she sighed, following after the duo as they walked towards a church, "Doctor, it's freezing and I've dressed for Rio. We are not stopping here," the Doctor and Evy knelt down and pulled a bit of the grass up, examining it, "Evy not you too! Are either of you listening to me? It's a _graveyard_! You promised me a _beach_."

"There's patches of it all over the place," Evy remarked, looking around.

"So, Earth, 2020-ish, ten years in your future, wrong continent for Rio, I'll admit, but it's not a massive overshoot," the Doctor defended quickly as Amy and Rory walked over.

"Why are those people waving at us?" Amy asked, seeing two people in the distance waving widely at them.

The Doctor and Evy looked over their shoulders at the people before jumping up and stepping forward, "Can't be…" the Doctor breathed, pulling out a pair of binoculars and looking through them.

A moment later Evy smiled, "It is!" she laughed, looking over at Amy and Rory, "It's _you_."

"No, we're here," Rory shook his head, "How can we be up there?"

"Ten years in your future," Evy told them, nodding over at the other them.

"Come to relive past glories, I'd imagine," the Doctor agreed, "Humans, you're so nostalgic."

"We're still together in ten years?" Amy's eyes widened.

"No need to sound so surprised!" Rory frowned at her, just the tiniest bit offended.

"Hey, let's go and talk to them!" Amy turned to Rory, "We can say hi to Future Us! How cool is that?" she grabbed his arm and started off towards themselves.

"No, best not, really best not," the Doctor began, stopping them, "These things get complicated very quickly, and...oh, look!" he pointed towards a large drill in the distance, "Big mining thing. Oh, I love a big mining thing," he turned to grin at Evy before looking over at Amy and Rory, "See, way better than Rio! Rio doesn't have a big mining thing."

"We're not going to have a look, are we?"

"Knowing him?" Evy nodded over at the Doctor.

"Let's go and have a look!" he took Evy's hand and began to lead her down a hill towards the drill.

Evy laughed, calling back over to Amy and Rory, "Come on, we'd best see what's going on."

They rushed off down the hills, just getting down to the bottom when they heard Amy calling after them, "Doctor! Evy!"

They turned around to see her running down the hill, but without Rory, "Where's Rory gone to?" Evy frowned, trying to look behind her to spot him.

Amy rolled her eyes, "He's gone back to the TARDIS to put my ring there, says I might lose it."

"Should we wait?" the Doctor looked over at Amy.

"Nah," she waved him off, "He said he'd catch up."

She stepped past them and continued walking on, leaving them no choice but to follow after her.

They reached the drilling station rather quickly, only to find the gates locked. Evy looked up at the signs attached to the front, "'Restricted access. No unauthorised personnel…'" she glanced over at the Doctor and grinned, pulling out her sonic and flashing the lock, causing it to spark and break, "Oh," the Doctor laughed and pulled her into a hug from behind.

"That is breaking and entering!" Amy gasped.

"What did she break?" he retorted, stepping up and pulling the lock off, " _Sonicing_ and entering, totally different."

He pushed the gate open as Amy stepped through, "Come on, then."

Evy hesitated, looking back, "You're _sure_ Rory'll catch us up?"

"Yes!" Amy shouted.

Evy sighed, still worried, till the Doctor walked up and put his arm around her waist, "I'm sure he's fine."

She looked up at him and nodded, the two of them walking in after Amy.

~8~

They walked through a couple halls trying to find the main control room or monitoring station but had no luck so far.

"What about now, can you feel it now?" the Doctor asked Amy. He and Evy had been trying to figure out why the ground felt so off, but so far they were the only ones who could tell.

"Honestly, I've got no idea what you're on about," Amy replied.

"The ground feels wrong," Evy told her, "Not like it should feel."

"It's ten years in the future, maybe how this ground feels is how it always feels."

"Good thought!" the Doctor smiled, "But no. It doesn't. Hear that?"

There was a whirring sound above them, "That's a drill in start-up mode," Evy commented, "There's after waves of a recent seismological shift."

"And blue grass," the Doctor added, pulling some of the blue grass he'd plucked out of his pocket and…

"Oh don't!" Evy cried, but the Doctor had already stuffed a few pieces in his mouth.

He made a face and began pulling them off his tongue, disgusted.

"Oh, please!" Amy grimaced, "Have you always been this disgusting?"

"No, that's recent," he replied quickly.

"Not true!" Evy laughed at him, "You did that before."

"Did not!"

She raised an eyebrow at him and crossed her arms, "Dead sand?"

"Oh right…" he trailed, before grinning widely and pulling her to him, "You said you wouldn't kiss me, but you did…" he tapped her nose.

"Well I wasn't about to let Christina do it!"

"Who?" Amy frowned, confused.

"It's a long story," Evy shook her head. She stepped away from the Doctor, sliding her hand down his arm to take his hand in hers and pull him along, "Now, what's in here…"

They stepped through a door to see a monitoring room with an Indian woman standing at a computer.

"Hello!" the Doctor called.

"Who are you?" the woman looked up, "What're you doing here?" she frowned at Amy, "And what're you wearing?"

"I dressed for Rio!" Amy replied.

The Doctor pulled out his psychic paper and held it up at the woman, "Ministry of Drills, Earth, and Science! New Ministry, quite big, just merged, lot of responsibility on our shoulders, don't like to talk about it…"

"What're you doing?" Evy cut in, walking over to the monitors, saving the woman from another Doctor ramble.

"None of your business," the woman told her.

"Where are these readings coming from?" she asked, eyeing the monitor as Amy walked past to lean against a piece of machinery and the Doctor walked over to a hole in the ground in the middle of the room.

"Under the soil," the woman replied, moving a bit of equipment away from the Doctor.

"The drill's up and running again," an older man called, walking into the room, stopping short when he saw the three other people standing around, "What's going on? Who are these people?"

"Amy, Evy, the Doctor," Amy introduced, "We're not staying, are we, Doctor?"

"Why's there a big patch of earth in the middle of your floor?" the Doctor asked, looking up from the hole where he was testing the soil, letting it pass through his fingers.

"We don't know, it just appeared overnight," the woman shrugged.

' _Doctor,_ ' Evy said to him silently so as not to alarm the others, ' _These readings…they're not normal…there's something else…_ ' she frowned, tapping a few keys as the Doctor got up to join her, Amy taking his spot at the hole.

"You need to get out of here, fast," Evy called over to them, her eyes widening as she read the readings.

"Why?" the woman asked.

"Sorry, what's your name?"

"Nasreen Chaudhry."

"Look at the readings on the screen, Nasreen," she pointed to the monitor, "It's moving."

"Hey, that's specialized equipment!" the other man called as he stormed over to them, "Get away from it."

"What is?" Nasreen asked.

"This steam," Amy called, "Is that a good thing?"

The Doctor looked over his shoulder at Amy, kneeling by the now smoking hole, "Shouldn't think so…" he glanced at Evy before walking over to it, "It's shifting when it shouldn't be shifting."

"What shouldn't?" Nasreen frowned but then the ground began to shake.

"The ground, the soil, the earth, moving, but how?" the Doctor looked over at Evy, "Why?"

"Earthquake?" Amy suggested.

"What's going on?" the other man asked.

"I don't think so," Evy called back to Amy, she looked over at the Doctor, "This is the only room being affected," the room shook violently as more holes began to appear around the floor, the ground underneath it subsiding, "It knows we're here!"

"The ground's attacking us," the Doctor agreed, narrowly missing a hole.

"No, that's not possible!" Nasreen cried.

"Under the circumstances, I suggest...RUN!" the Doctor said. He grabbed Nasreen's hand and pulled her to the door. Reaching out for Evy as well, taking her hand and pulling her away from the holes. Amy ran towards them as well, doing a great job at avoiding the holes that sprung up…the man was not as lucky.

"Tony!" Nasreen shouted as the man became trapped.

"Stay back, Amy!" the Doctor shouted, "Stay away from the earth!"

Amy looked between them and Tony before leaping over a hole and over to his side, "It's ok," she reassured him, trying to help him up when the ground underneath her opened and her feet fell through, "It's pulling me down!"

"Amy!" Evy shouted as she and the Doctor ran over to her.

"Doctor, help me!" she shouted, "Evy something's got me!" they fell to their stomachs, reaching out to her, "The ground's got my legs!" she began to sink, now up to her waist.

"We've got you," the Doctor gasped as he and Evy grabbed one of her hands.

"Ok," she nodded, "Don't let go."

"Never," Evy promised, leaning in more to grab Amy around the waist as well.

"What is it, why is it doing this?"

"Stay calm, keep hold of our hands, don't let go," the Doctor told her.

"That drill," Evy shouted back at Nasreen and Tony, who had now been freed, "Shut it down! Go! Quick!" they ran from the room to do as ordered.

"Can you get me out?" Amy asked them.

"Amy, try and stay calm," the Doctor told her again, "If you struggle, it'll make things worse. Keep hold of our hands."

"We're _not_ about to let you go," Evy turned back to her.

She sunk more in to the ground, up to her chest as her arm slipped from the Doctor's grip, but sucking Evy forward with her as she refused to let too much of Amy's waist go, "It's pulling me down, something's pulling me!"

"Stay calm," he repeated, grabbing her hand with both of his, "Hold on, if they can just shut down the drill..."

"I can't hold on!" she cried as she was pulled down more, only her head and arms visible. The Doctor strained to hold on to her, Evy's arms were buried in the soil as she'd held onto Amy, "What's pulling me? What is under the earth? I don't want to suffocate under there."

"Amy, concentrate!"

"Don't you dare give up!" Evy added.

"Tell Rory..." Amy began but she was pulled under.

"No!" Evy cried, tightening her grip, "Amy!"

The Doctor watched in horror as Amy sunk lower…and then the worst thing that could happen happened…Amy was forcefully pulled into the earth, swallowed by it…but that wasn't all, Evy, who refused to let up on her grip, was pulled straight down with her too fast for the Doctor to grab her.

"No!" he shouted, reaching for Evy, only for her to disappear as well, "No!" he began to dig desperately through the dirt, needing to get them back, get her back, "No! No! No! No. No! No! No!" he slapped the ground and stood up, pulling out his sonic, "No! No!" he flashed the ground but nothing happened, "No!" he screamed, "You can't have her!"

But it was no use…she was gone.

He sunk to his knees, breathing heavily.

"Where are they?" Nasreen asked as she and Tony ran back into the room, the drill shut down.

"She's gone," he whispered, "They're gone. The ground took them," he let out a shuddering breath, "She's gone…"

' _Not ever,_ ' Evy spoke in his mind.

His eyes widened, ' _Evy!_ '

' _I'm fine…_ ' she replied, sending him reassurance.

' _Where are you?_ '

' _Under the ground obviously_.'

' _Are you alright? Is Amy_?'

' _I'm fine. I can see Amy, she seems ok, knocked out though. I'll keep an eye on her, I'll let you know what's happening as soon as I can._ '

' _Right,_ ' he nodded to himself, standing, his hearts slowing with relief that she was ok for now, ' _I'll try and figure out what's going on from up here as well._ '

"Is that what happened to Mo?" Tony asked, "Are they dead?"

"No, they're not dead," the Doctor said, beginning to pace around, trying to think quickly. The sooner he could figure this out, the sooner he could get Evy back, and Amy, "It's not quicksand. They didn't just sink, something pulled them in, it wanted Amy…but it got so much more than it bargained for…"

"What do you mean?" Tony frowned.

"They got Evy as well," he glanced up at them, "They have my Link, which means they've got _me_ after them," he rubbed his head, "You said the ground was dormant, just a patch of earth, when you first saw it this morning. And the drill had been stopped."

"That's right," Nasreen nodded.

"But when you restarted the drill, the ground fought back."

"So what, the ground wants to stop us drilling?" Nasreen laughed, "Doctor, that is ridiculous."

The Doctor turned and aimed the sonic at the hole that had taken Amy and Evy and flashed it across, making the ground vibrate, "I'm not saying that, and it's not ridiculous, I just...don't think it's right."

' _The ground isn't conscious_. _I got enough of a sense of that being pulled down, it wasn't the one pulling us, but it had all the signs of being programmed in parts.'_

"Oh!" he smiled at her bit of information, "Of course! It's bio-programming!"

"What?" Nasreen shook her head.

"Bio-programming!" he clapped, "Oh, clever. You use bio-signals to resonate the internal molecular structure of natural objects! It's mainly used in engineering and construction, mostly jungle planets, but that's way in the future, and not here. What's it doing here?"

"Sorry, did you just say jungle planets?"

"You're not making any sense, man!" Tony exclaimed.

"'Scuse me, I'm making perfect sense, you're just not keeping up," he told them, "Evy understands it perfectly, I'll have you know…" he could feel her agreement, "The earth, the ground beneath our feet, was bio-programmed to attack."

"Yeah, even if that were possible, which, by the way, it's not, why?" Nasreen asked.

"Stop you drilling! We find what's doing the bio-programming, find Evy and Amy, get them back…"

' _Doctor, can you hear that?_ ' Evy asked.

"Shh, shh, ssh!" he hushed Tony and Nasreen, listening intently to what Evy was hearing…but it couldn't be…

"Doctor," Nasreen began.

"Shh, shh!" he hissed, closing his eyes to listen, "Silence! Absolute silence!" his eyes snapped open, that was the sound alright, "You stopped the drill, right?"

"Yes!" Nasreen rolled her eyes.

"And you've only got the one drill?"

"Yes."

"You're sure about that?"

"Yes!" Tony shouted this time.

He dropped down onto the ground, lying on his stomach next to the hole and pressing his ear to the floor, he could even hear it from here too, "So, if you shut the drill down...why can I still hear drilling? It's under the ground."

"That's not possible."

' _Doctor, the map of the drill, I caught a blip of tunnels around the drill, while it burrowed down, someone was digging up around it…they had to be…finish the program and scan for tunnel systems._ '

He ran over to the computer, flashing his sonic back and forth across it.

"Oh, no, what…what are you doing?" Tony asked.

"Hacking into your records," he replied, "Evy was going to get the reports, samples, sensors, everything you had and unite the data, make it all one big conversation, let's have a look. So…" he pointed out the drill, "We are here and this is your drill hole. 21.009 kilometers. Well done!"

"Thank you," Nasreen smiled, "It's taken us a long time."

' _But why here?_ ' Evy asked.

He nodded, it was a good question, "Why here, though? Why drill on this site?"

"We found patches of grass in this area, containing trace minerals unseen in this country for 20 million years."

"The blue grass?" he asked, before shaking his head at Nasreen, "Oh, Nasreen, those trace minerals weren't X marking the spot, saying dig here. They were a warning. Stay away. 'Cos while you've been drilling down...somebody else has been drilling up," he pulled up a screen, showing a series of vertical tunnel networks surrounding the drill, "Oh, beautiful. Network of tunnels all the way down."

"No, no, we've surveyed that area," Tony shook his head.

"You only saw what you went looking for."

"What are they?" Nasreen asked, pointing a small cluster of three flashing lights.

"Heat signals," he said, "Wait, dual readings, hot and cold…"

' _Hot_ and _cold?_ '

"I know, doesn't make sense," he said, out loud, "And now they're moving. Fast. How many people live nearby?"

"Just my daughter and her family," Tony replied, "The rest of the staff travel in."

"Grab this equipment and follow me," he ordered, grabbing a computer and heading for the door.

"Why?" Nasreen asked, "What're we doing?"

He stopped and turned around, "That noise isn't a drill. It's transport. Three of them, 30 kilometers down, rate of speed looks about 150 kilometers an hour. Should be here in..."

' _12 minutes._ '

"12 minutes," he nodded, "Whatever bio-programmed the earth is on its way up, now."

He turned and walked out of the room, ' _You alright? What's happening?_ '

' _Nothing so far_. _It's too dark for me to see, I can barely make out Amy…I don't want to risk trying to move and get trapped or get her hurt…_ '

' _Right,_ ' he nodded, walking out of the building entirely, ' _Just stay there, I'll get you out as soon as I can, I promise._ '

He could almost feel her smile, ' _You don't have to tell me, I believe in you_.'

' _I love you._ '

' _I love you too_.'

"How can something be coming up when there's only the Earth's crust down there?" Tony called as he and Nasreen caught up to him, Tony carrying the other computer and Nasreen leading a wheelbarrow full of equipment.

"You saw the readings!" he told them.

"Who are you, anyway?" Nasreen demanded, "How can you know all this?" there was a whirring sound and red lights struck across the sky, "Whoa, did you see that?"

"No, no, no!" he shouted, pulling out a slingshot from his pocket and shot a rock up at the sky…hitting a red force field. He pulled out his sonic and aimed it, flashing it at the barrier, making it momentarily visible as covering the entire little village and the drill site, "Energy signal originating from under the Earth. We're trapped."

"Doctor!" Rory shouted, running up to them with a woman and a young boy, "Something weird's going on here, the graves are eating people."

"Not now, Rory!" he said, before muttering half to himself and half to Evy, "Energy barricade. Invisible to the naked eye. We can't get out and no one from the outside world can get in."

"What? Ok, what about the TARDIS?"

"The what?" Nasreen asked.

' _It would fry the circuits._ '

"No, those energy patterns would play havoc with the circuits," the Doctor agreed, "With a bit of time, maybe, but we've only got nine and a half minutes."

"Nine and a half minutes to what?" Rory frowned.

"We're trapped," Nasreen said, "And something's burrowing towards the surface."

"Where's Amy?" Rory asked, looking around.

"Get everyone inside the church!" the Doctor ordered, picking up the computer, "Rory, I'll get her back."

"What d'you mean, get her back? Where's she gone?"

"She was taken. Into the Earth."

"How? Why didn't you stop it?!"

"I tried," he snapped, "I promise, I tried."

"Well, you should've tried harder!"

"I'll find Amy," he told Rory, "And I promise you, she's safe."

"Oh yeah? How do you know?"

"'Cos they've got Evy too," he replied quietly. Rory looked around, as though just realizing Evy wasn't there either, "And I know her, she'll keep Amy safe," he took a breath, "I'll keep you all safe. I promise. Come on, please. I need you alongside me," but Rory looked at him warily before taking a step back, "What?"

"You um…tend to lash out whenever Evy's in danger…" Rory reminded him, thinking of the last time when he'd been shoved into a wall by the Doctor due to Evy being threatened.

"Oh, yes," he nodded, serious, "But you're not the reason she's in danger, and believe me, they better return her to me safe or things will not be pretty."

~8~

Evy tensed as she watched a figure approach her and Amy in the dark. They held out a small glowing device, waving it over Amy…a scanner. She watched closely as the figure seemed pleased with the results, which she knew meant Amy was alive, and then turned to her…she could see if stiffen as it realized she was awake. It quickly put the scanner away and turned, hissing in the darkness, and soon Evy could see more of the figures appearing...

~8~

Inside the church was almost as dangerous as outside would be. It was in a severe state of disrepair and disuse, with boxes, crates, and just junk scattered everywhere. The Doctor was leading Nasreen and Tony in, setting up the equipment while the woman, Ambrose, and the child, Elliot, stood by with Rory.

"So we can't get out, we can't contact anyone," Ambrose said, "And something, the something that took my husband, is coming up through the earth?"

"Yes," the Doctor nodded, "If we move quickly enough, we can be ready."

"No, stop," she shook her head, "This has gone far enough. What is this?"

"He's telling the truth, love," Tony told her gently.

"Come on! It's not the first time we've had no mobile or phone signals. Reception's always rubbish."

"Look, Ambrose, we saw the Doctor's friends get taken, ok?" Nasreen said, "You saw the lightning in the sky. I have seen the impossible today, and the only person who's made any sense of it, for me, is the Doctor."

"Him?" Ambrose shot back incredulously.

"Me," the Doctor agreed.

"Can you get my dad back?" Elliot asked.

Everyone turned to look at the Doctor, "Yes," he walked over to him and Ambrose, focusing on the woman, "But I need you to trust me and do _exactly_ as I say from this second onwards because we're running out of time."

"So tell us what to do," she swallowed.

"Thank you," he smiled, before turning to the rest of the group, "We have eight minutes to set up a line of defense. Bring me every phone, camera, every piece of recording or transmitting equipment you can find," the group immediately got to work, the Doctor having Rory and Ambrose set up all the cameras they had around the perimeter of the church while he soniced them to work together, "Every burglar alarm, every movement sensor, every security light. I want the whole area covered with sensors," he ran over to the monitors and looked to see the heat signatures getting closer, "Right, we need to be ready for whatever's coming up…" he looked over at Elliot, "I need a map of the village, marking where the cameras are going."

"I can't do the words," Elliot replied, "I'm dyslexic."

' _Never stopped DaVinci,_ ' Evy's voice came to him, a bit strained. He frowned. She'd told him that she and Amy had been moved, she'd been tied up and blindfolded by more of the creatures when whoever was down there realized she was awake. So far, they were still alright. But there was a nagging feeling in the back of his mind that there was something else going on.

"Oh, that's alright, I can't make a decent meringue," the Doctor told him, "Evy's the real cook between us. So draw like your life depends on it, Elliot," Elliot ran off, "6 minutes 40."

Nasreen and Tony walked back in, armfuls of tech for him to fiddle with. He stationed Nasreen at the countdown and Tony at the computers where he brought up an overlay of the village, "Works in quadrants," Tony said, "Every movement sensor and trip light we've got. If anything moves, we'll know."

"Good lad!" he cried, slapping the man on the back before heading outside to see if there was anything else that could be helpful. Halfway around the church he came across a van for Meals on Wheels.

"Oi!" Ambrose called, walking over, "What're you doing?"

"Resources! Every little helps! Meals on Wheels. What've you got here then, warmer in the front, refrigerated in the back."

"Bit chilly for a hideout, mind," Ambrose shrugged, setting a load of equipment in the front seat.

"What are those?" he frowned, seeing the gardening equipment mixed with what looked like weapons.

"Like you say, every little helps."

"No!" he exclaimed, serious, "No weapons. It's not the way I do things."

"You said we're supposed to defend ourselves!"

"Oh, Ambrose, you're better than this. I'm asking nicely. Put them away."

He left no room for argument as he turned and walked away, back to the church where the countdown was up to 3:23. Elliot ran over to him, holding up his map, "Look at that!" he grinned, "Perfect!" he ruffled the boy's hair, "Evy says dyslexia never stopped Da Vinci…or Einstein for that matter, it's not stopping you."

Elliot beamed at that, "I don't understand what you're going to do though."

"Two phase plan," he said, working on a few more instructions for the computers, "First, the sensors and cameras will tell us when something arrives. Second, if something does arrive, I use this to send a sonic pulse through that network of devices, a pulse which would temporarily incapacitate most things in the Universe."

"Knock 'em out," Elliot nodded, "Cool."

"Lovely place to grow up, round here," the Doctor commented.

"Suppose," he shrugged, "I want to live in a city one day. Soon as I'm old enough, I'll be off."

"I was the same, where I grew up."

"Did you get away?"

"Yeah."

"Do you ever miss it?"

"So much," he breathed sadly, but then a faint smile came to his face, "But I've got Evy, she's like…that little bit of home I can take with me…"

"Who is she? You mentioned her a few times."

"She's…she got taken with our friend Amy. And…I've _got_ to get her back."

"She's important to you," Elliot nodded.

"Very."

"Is it monsters coming? Have you met monsters before?"

"Yeah."

"You scared of them?"

The Doctor leaned down, as if telling him a secret, "They're scared of me…" he looked around as though making sure no one was there, "But they should really be scared of Evy…she can be mad scary when she wants to be."

"Sounds like mum," Elliot remarked. The Doctor laughed as Elliot turned back to him, serious, "Will you really get my dad back?"

"Between me and Evy and these?" he tapped his head, smiling, "No question."

Elliot smiled as the Doctor turned back to the computer, "I left my headphones at home!" he said, before rushing out of the room.

The countdown was up to a minute when the Doctor hit the last command and went out to call everyone back in. He saw Rory finishing up setting up a camera on a gravestone, "How're you doing?"

"It's getting darker," Rory remarked, looking up at the sky to see the light being blocked, "How can it be getting dark so quickly?"

"Shutting out light from within the barricade. Trying to isolate us in the dark. Which means..." there was a rumbling, "It's here!"

They ran back into the church, coming across Ambrose who was trying to get the door open.

"I can't open it!" she shouted, "It keeps sticking! The wood's warped."

The Doctor quickly moved to help, but it wasn't doing much good. He turned to Rory, "Any time you want to help!"

"Can't you sonic it?" he frowned.

"It doesn't do wood!"

"That is rubbish!"

"Oi!" he turned away from the door and stormed up to Rory, "Don't diss the sonic!" he then turned back and the two of them went to help Ambrose, managing to get the door open and into the church just as it slammed shut behind them. They saw Tony and Nasreen standing there as the ground began shaking severely.

' _Doctor! Overheard them…energy surge coming your way. They want to knock out the power!'_

"See if we can get a fix!" he shouted, running to the computers as items began falling off the shelves. He typed quickly on the keyboard, trying to narrow down the area before the power went…but the computers sparked and it went dark.

"No power," Tony looked around, startled.

"It's deliberate."

"What do we do now?" Rory asked.

"Nothing," the Doctor said as Tony turned on a torch, "We've got nothing! Evy said they sent an energy surge to wreck our systems," he sighed, frustrated, as he tapped the computer once more, "I wish she was here…she's so much better at fixing these things than me…"

"Is everyone ok?" Rory looked around, "Is anyone hurt?"

"I'm fine," Nasreen called.

"I'm good," Tony nodded.

"Me too," Ambrose breathed.

There was another loud rumbling, "Doctor, what was that?" Rory asked.

"It's like the holes at the drill station," Tony remarked.

"Is this how they happened?" Nasreen asked.

The Doctor knelt down and listened to the ground, "It's coming through the final layer of earth."

"What is?"

He stood up quickly as there was silence.

"The banging's stopped," Tony breathed.

Ambrose looked around the room, "Where's Elliot? Has anyone seen Elliot? Did he come in? Was he in when the door was shut? Who counted him back in? Who saw him last?"

The Doctor felt a weight settle in his stomach, "I did."

"Where is he?"

"He said he was going to get headphones."

"And you let him go? He was out there on his own?"

"Mum!" they heard Elliot call suddenly, pounding on the door to the church, "Grandpa Tony! Let me in!"

"Elliot!" Ambrose ran to the door.

"Let me in!"

"He's out there!" Ambrose shouted, trying to get the door open but it was stuck again, "Help me."

"Open the door!" Elliot pounded, "Mum! There's something out here!"

Everyone ran to the door, trying to get it open, "Push, Elliot, push, Elliot!" Ambrose shouted to him.

"Mum!" Elliot yelled, sounding frightened.

"Hurry up!"

"Mummy," Elliot whimpered.

"Come on!" Tony shouted, shoving the door open finally.

"Elliot!" Ambrose called, running outside, but Elliot was gone, "Where is he? He was here. He was here! Elliot!" she ran off into the graveyard in search of her son.

"Ambrose, don't go running off!" the Doctor called after her.

"Ambrose!" Tony ran after her.

"Why does no one _ever_ listen," the Doctor mumbled to himself before turning to Nasreen, "Stay here!"

He and Rory ran off after the two, catching up with them, only to see Tony sitting on a headstone, Ambrose tending to him, the man looking very much in pain.

"What happened?" the Doctor asked.

"My dad's hurt," Ambrose told him.

"Get him into the church now!"

"Elliot's gone. They've killed him, haven't they?"

"I don't think so. They've taken three people, when they could've just killed them up here. There's still hope, Ambrose. There is always hope."

"Then why've they taken him?"

"I don't know. I'll find Elliot, I promise. But first I've gotta stop this attack. Please, get inside the church."

Ambrose nodded, moving to help her father, "Come on, dad."

The Doctor and Rory watched as Ambrose helped her father head back to the church.

"So, what now?" Rory asked.

"Now…" the Doctor muttered, pulling out a pair of sunglasses and sonicing them, "I find out what's out there."

' _Be careful_.'

' _I will,_ ' he promised.

He slipped on the glasses and whispered a plan to Rory before walking around. He looked down at his hands, seeing the heat signature there when something rustled in the bushes. He looked over to see something moving but no heat signature, "Cold blood…" he remarked.

' _Silurians!_ ' Evy gasped, not sure if she should feel better or worse knowing what was holding Amy and her hostage.

"I know who they are!" the Doctor called out sing-songy. He walked over to the Meals on Wheels van, whistling as he tapped the side of it to signal Rory. He opened the front door, taking out the fire extinguisher from the front seat and shut it. In the window he could see a reflection of a reptilian creature rushing towards him. He quickly spun out of the way as it attacked and released the extinguisher to chill it. The creatures screamed and Rory jumped out of the back, grabbing an arm as he and the Doctor pushed it into the refrigerated back and locked the door.

"We got it!" Rory laughed.

"Defending the planet with Meals on Wheels!" the Doctor agreed, raising his hand to high-five Rory but both of them were distracted by the rumbling that started again.

"What was that?"

"Sounds like they're leaving."

"Without this one?" Rory nodded back at the van as the darkness dissipated and the sun shone though the force field again, "Looks like we scared them off!"

"I don't think so," the Doctor replied grimly, "Now both sides have hostages."

~8~

Amy woke slowly to find herself encased in a clear coffin-like box with streaky, distorting sides. She gasped and began pounding on the glass, "Let me out! Can anybody hear me? I'm alive in here! Let me out! I know you're out there! My name is Amy Pond and you'd better get me the hell out of here or so help me I am going to kick your backside!" a green, distorted figure appeared over her, leaning down, "Please?"

' _Amy,_ ' she heard Evy's voice echoing in her mind, ' _You need to stay calm._ '

"Shh!" the figure hissed.

"Did you just shush me?" Amy shouted at it, "Did you just _shush_ me?" suddenly a gas started to fill the coffin, "No, no, no, don't do that!"

' _Amy!'_ Evy called, ' _Amy! Stay calm, the gas isn't poisonous_.'

"No gas!" Amy begged, still scared, "No gas!"

She began to cough as Evy's voice filtered across her mind once more. ' _The gas will only knock you out_ ,' she told the girl as she gasped for breath, ' _I'll be here when you wake up. I promise. You're not alone!_ '

And then her world went black.

Evy watched through the glass of her own box as the figure moved away from Amy and over to her.

"Interesting," it commented, tilting its head, "You don't respond to the gas like this one…we'll just have to find a new formula…"

Evy gagged as gas began to pool into the chamber. She scrunched her eyes, trying in vain to keep this from reaching the Doctor…this was the fourth concoction the figure had tried on her…each one was worse than the last, but none had knocked her out yet. She'd heard him mumbling about not having the proper tests done to find the right mixture. The next one would be the last and then the figure would be forced to run his test early. She was torn between faking being unconsious, the risk being that they'd be moved and she couldn't let herself react to anything that might happen, or staying awake and trying to buy some time, however short it was.

~8~

Rory was sitting on a toppled grave marker as the Doctor came around from checking the front of the church for any more creatures, "I've met these creatures before, different branch of the species, but all the same..." he nodded for Rory to follow him as he headed to the basement where they'd kept the creature stored, "Let's see if our friend's thawed out! And then I'll just have a little chat…"

"Are you sure?" Rory asked as they came to the doorway, he glanced at the creature sitting on the floor in the shadows, "By yourself?"

"Very sure."

"But the sting..."

"Venom gland takes at least 24 hours to recharge," he reassured him and turned to look at the creatures, "Am I right?" there was no response so he turned back to Rory, "I know what I'm doing. I'll be fine."

' _You better be_.'

Rory gave him one last look before sighing and leaving the room as the Doctor turned to face the creature. He waited till Rory was gone before walking over to her. It was a female, clearly reptilian, with a metal mask on with large black eyes, wearing some sort of chainmail, clearly of the warrior class. Made him glad he'd bound her hands as she moved closer to him along the floor.

He lifted his hands up slowly, non-threatening, "I'm the Doctor. I've come to talk. I'm going to remove your mask," he squatted down and gently reached out to remove the mask, revealing a humanoid face covered in scales, "You are beautiful. Not as beautiful as my Link though, but still...remnant of a bygone age on planet Earth. And by the way, lovely mode of travel! Geothermal currents, projecting you up through a network of tunnels. Gorgeous! Mind if I sit?" he stood up and moved to grab a folding chair, placing it in front of the creature, sitting down, "Your people have someone very important to me as well as a good friend of mine. I want them back. Why did you come to the surface? What do you want? Oh, I do hate a monologue. Give us a bit back. How many are you?"

"I'm the last of my species," it replied.

"Really?" he raised an eyebrow, "No. 'Last of the species,' the Klempari Defense. As an interrogation defense, it's a bit old hat, I'm afraid."

"I'm the last of my species."

"And again, you're _not_ , want to know why? One of the people you took has been keeping tabs for me…saw another of you, quite a few of you really, while you were stuck in the van."

She glared at him, "Your friend is wrong. I am the last of my species."

"No," he said, his voice growing hard, "You're really not. Because Evy and I are the last of our species and we know how it sits in a heart. So don't insult us. Let's start again. Tell me your name."

"Alaya."

"How long has your tribe been sleeping under the earth, Alaya? It's not difficult to work out. You're 300 million years out of your comfort zone. Question is, what woke you now?"

"We were attacked," she glared.

He nodded, "The drill."

"Our sensors detected a threat to our life support systems. The warrior class was activated to prevent the assault. We will wipe the vermin from the surface and reclaim our planet."

"Do we have to say 'vermin?'" he frowned at her, "They're really very nice."

"Primitive apes," she spat.

"Extraordinary species," he countered, "You attack them, they'll fight back. But, there's a peace to be brokered here. I can help you with that."

"This land is ours," Alaya hissed, "We lived here long before the apes."

"Doesn't give you automatic rights to it now, I'm afraid. Humans won't give up the planet."

"So we destroy them."

"You underestimate them."

"You underestimate us."

"One tribe of homo reptilia against six billion humans, you've got your work cut out."

Alaya stood, glaring down at him, "We did not initiate combat. But we can still win."

"Tell me where the two women you took are. Give us back the people who were taken."

"No," she sneered.

He sighed and stood up, "I'm not going let you provoke a war, Alaya," he folded up the chair and put it away, "There'll be no battle here today."

He turned to head out the door as Alaya called back to him, "The fire of war is already lit. A massacre is due."

He stopped, "Not while Evy and I are here."

"I'll gladly die for my cause. What will you sacrifice for yours?"

He turned to look over his shoulder at her, "You and your people have taken my Link," he informed her, his eyes so cold with rage that Alaya actually took a step back, "There is _nothing_ I wouldn't sacrifice for her."

And with that, he turned and walked out the door.

' _I love you,_ ' Evy's voice filtered to him.

' _I love you as well_ ,' he told her, ' _So much_.'

And he was terrified, deeply. He hated that he was up above while Evy was below, unable to help her, protect her, knowing she couldn't exactly do anything while Amy was still unconsious without fear of the Silurians harming Amy in the process. He needed to get to her, find her, get her back...he had to...his just _had_ to.

~8~

The Doctor was sitting before Rory and Tony, Ambrose and Nasreen standing around them as he told them his plan.

"You're going to what?" Rory demanded.

"I'm going to go down below the surface, to find the rest of the tribe," he repeated, "To talk to them."

"You're going to negotiate with these aliens?" Ambrose nearly spat.

"They're not aliens! They're Earth...liens! Once known as the Silurian race, or, some would argue, Eocenes, or homo reptilia. Not monsters, not evil," he stood up, "Well, only as evil as you are. The previous owners of the planet, that's all. Look, from their point of view, _you're_ the invaders. Your drill was threatening their settlement. Now, the creature in the crypt. Her name's Alaya. She's one of their warriors and she's my best bargaining chip. I need her alive. If she lives, so do Elliot and Mo and Amy and Evy."

"We don't even know if they're alive," Ambrose shuddered, tears in her eyes.

"They are," he assured her, "Trust me."

"How do you know?"

"Because Evy managed to commune with him. She saw them bringing him down and he's alive!"

"Evy?" Ambrose shook her head, not understanding.

"Evy," he nodded, "She's one of the women who was taken, I can hear her in my mind."

"You hear _voices_?" Ambrose's eyes widened. This was just great, an insane man was going to try and negotiate with aliens over her son.

"No, no, no, no, no," he shook his head, "I just hear Evy…" everyone but Rory stared at him, "Look, it's a complicated explanation that I don't have time to go over. All you need to know is that Evy and I share a mental bond. I can hear her, she can hear me, we can _communicate_. And if she says your son is fine, he's fine. Ok?"

Ambrose nodded, "Ok."

"Good, now you all need to keep calm because I will find them. They've got Evy, and I _will_ find her, I will find them. But while I'm gone, you four people, in this church, in this corner of planet Earth, you have to be the best of humanity.

"What if they come back?" Tony asked, "Shouldn't we be examining this creature, dissecting it, finding its weak points?"

"No dissecting!" he nearly shouted, "No examining! We return their hostage, they return ours. Nobody gets harmed. We can land this, together. If you are the best you can be," he looked around at them and sighed, "Evy…" he shook his head, smiling in thought of his Link, "She gave up so much to save you, to save the human race, dozens of times over…she…she lost her brother, she nearly lost her life, nearly got herself blown up to keep you all safe…she did it because she believed you could be better than you are, and so do I. It's why we fight so hard for you. Prove us right," he stared each of them down, "You are decent, brilliant people. Nobody dies today. Understand?"

They nodded, Nasreen even applauding, only to stop suddenly when no one else joined in.

The Doctor smiled at her before turning and walking out of the room, jogging across the graveyard and back to the TARDIS. He hadn't even noticed Nasreen had followed him till he reached it, "No, sorry, no, what're you doing?"

"Coming with you, of course!" Nasreen smiled, looking at the TARDIS, "What is it, some kind of transport pod?"

"Sort of, but you're not coming with me!" he told her as Tony ran up.

"He's right, you're not," Tony agreed.

"I have spent all my life excavating the layers of this planet," Nasreen said, "And now you want me to stand back while you head down into it? I don't think so!"

The Doctor looked at his watch, "I don't have time to argue!"

"I thought we were in a rush."

"It'll be dangerous."

"Oh, so's crossing the road."

' _I like her_.'

"Oh, for goodness sake, alright, then!" he opened the TARDIS and ran in, "Come on! _"_ a minute or two later he looked over to see Nasreen enter, stopping dead to give the room a double take, "Welcome aboard the TARDIS. Now don't touch anything! Very precious."

"No way!" she breathed, looking around as she slowly made her way over to him, "But that's...this is..." she slapped him on the arm, "Fantastic! What does it do?"

"Everything!" he smiled, "I'm hoping, if we're going down, that barricade won't interfere…" the TARDIS pitched violently, forcing them to cling to the console, "Did you touch something?!"

"No! Isn't this what it does?"

"I'm not doing anything!" he called back as they began shaking, "We've been hijacked! I can't stop it! They must've sensed the electro-magnetic field!" he pulled out the monitor to see earth rush past them, "They're pulling the TARDIS down into the Earth!"

They held onto the console as the TARDIS fell, crashing to the floor as it suddenly stopped. Nasreen laughed, snapping one of the Doctor's braces before standing, "Oi!" he called.

"Where are we?" Nasreen asked as he got up as well.

He ran for the door, Nasreen following, stepping past the doors. They were in a cavernous tunnel with roots and fungus covering the walls. Nasreen flinched as water dripped on her. The Doctor whistled in amazement as he looked up at what they'd fallen through, his whistle echoing down the tunnels, "Looks like we fell through the bottom of their tunnel system. Don't suppose it was designed for handling something like this."

"How far down are we?" Nasreen asked.

"A lot more than 21 kilometers."

"So why aren't we burning alive?"

"Don't know," he smiled, "Interesting, isn't it?"

"It's like this is everyday to you?" Nasreen called as he walked past her.

"Not every day," he stopped and looked at her, "Every other day," he turned and headed down one of the tunnels, Nasreen running along after a stunned delay.

~8~

Amy's eyes fluttered open a moment before snapping wide when she realized she was upright, strapped to an examining board, her arms and legs clasped down. She struggled frantically against them when…

"Don't struggle," someone whispered. She looked over to her right to see a man strapped to a board just like her, "Close your eyes and don't struggle."

"What?" she whispered back, "Where am I? Why can't I move my body?"

"Decontamination, they call it. They did it to me. While I was conscious."

"Ok, you're freaking me out now. Did what? Who did?"

"Dissected me," he looked down at his torso where there was a long, vertical, healing scar.

"No," Amy breathed.

' _Amy,_ ' Amy's head snapped up as she heard Evy again, ' _You'll be fine_.'

"Evy?" Amy whispered, looking to her left to see Evy strapped to a board as well, having not allowed herself to be taken from Amy, not wanting her to be alone.

' _You'll be fine, I promise_ ,' Evy said. Amy gasped as she heard Evy speaking, but didn't see her mouth move.

"How?" Amy's eyes widened.

' _You won't be dissected_. _I swear_.'

"He's coming," the man whispered, unaware of the small conversation that had just happened, "I'm sorry. I wish I could help you."

They looked over to see a Silurian approaching them slowly, a surgeon's mask over his nose and mouth, wearing a white apron and holding a syringe, walking straight for Amy.

~8~

"We're looking for a small tribal settlement," the Doctor told Nasreen as they walked down the tunnels, so focused on the task that he didn't notice Nasreen stop a small ways away, staring at something golden, "Probably housing around a dozen homo reptilia. Maybe less."

"One _small_ tribe?" Nasreen asked slowly.

He stopped and turned around, heading back to her, "Yeah."

"Maybe a _dozen_?" she stared at something in the middle of the tunnel.

"Ah…" he breathed, joining her, to see a large city-like community with buildings and monuments staring him in the face, "Maybe more than a dozen. Maybe more like an entire civilization living beneath the earth."

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have to say...things will be different with Evy being trapped with Amy. The story will turn a bit darker than the episode had it. But still, having two Time Lords running around, one having been taken and one coming to the rescue with make things different. When I wrote this chapter for the Academic Series, I wondered what would happen if the Professor had been down below either with or instead of Amy, here we'll find out :)
> 
> Next chapter...something will happen to Evy that didn't to Amy...and the Doctor himself might just cause negotiations to break down because of it.


	14. Cold Blood

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: this chapter contains mentions of a character experiencing Vivisection, or dissection while alive. Skip the very end of the first scene and the beginning of the third if you wish to avoid when it's happening.

A Silurian doctor approached Amy as she struggled in her restraints, "Don't you come near me with that!" she shouted, eyeing his cutting device in alarm.

He lowered his mask, revealing his face and turned on a recording device, "From the clothing, the human female appears to be more resistant to the cold than the male."

"I dressed for Rio!"

"Leave her alone!" the man called, "You got me!"

He took a small button from his pocket and pressed it, forcing the clamps down on all the boards.

"Commencing dissection," he reached out the cutting device towards Amy when…

"I've got two hearts!" Evy shouted. The doctor paused and pulled back to look over at Evy, "You just said she's a human female," Evy nodded at Amy, "She's similar to him," she nodded at the man, "Apart from outward appearance and one or two reproductive organs, they are the same, one heart…but me…"

"Evy don't!" Amy shouted in horror as the doctor turned away from her and made his way to Evy. The girl was drawing his attention away, baiting him, she was going to be dissected instead…for her.

Evy tensed as the doctor walked over to her, "I've got two…go on, check if you don't believe me."

The doctor eyed her before pulling out sort of earpiece attached to a cone, their version of a stethoscope, and pressed it to Evy's chest, moving it from side to side. His eyes widened as he heard the twin beats, "How?"

"I'm not human. Not even from Earth…" she swallowed hard, "Doesn't it make you wonder what else is different?"

The doctor leaned over to speak into the recording device, "Dissection of the human female shall be postponed in favor of the second female specimen, unknown origins."

Evy bit her lip, cutting off her emotional tie to the Doctor so he wouldn't feel…

The cutting device sliced through her skin.

~8~

The Doctor and Nasreen walked through the tunnels, more determined to find the others than ever, "This place is enormous and deserted," the Doctor commented, "The majority of the race are probably still asleep," he pulled out his sonic, "We need to find Evy and Amy, looking for heat signature anomalies."

"But, Doctor, how can all this be here?" Nasreen breathed as they walked over a bridge above magma, "I mean, these plants..."

"Must be getting closer to the center of the city," he reasoned as they reached another tunnel.

"You're sure this is the best way to enter?"

"Front door approach!" he smiled, "Definitely. Always the best way..." he trailed off, suddenly distracted.

An alarm sounded, "Hostile life force detected, area 17."

But that wasn't what was bothering him…something was wrong…

"Apart from the backdoor approach, that's also good," he muttered, trying to turn around as though he could see what was bothering him standing there, "Sometimes better."

"Hostile life force detected, area 17."

A door slid open in front of Nasreen, "Doctor!"

Armed Silurian soldiers ran through the door and the tunnel behind them, their guns raised.

The Doctor gave them no notice as he felt it snap. Evy was blocking her feelings…something was wrong. Something was terribly wrong and she didn't want him to know about it…

That was his last thought as gas surrounded him, knocking him and Nasreen to the floor.

~8~

Amy was sobbing to herself as she kept her eyes shut tight so she wouldn't have to watch as Evy was dissected in her place. The girl didn't scream, she didn't cry out. The most Amy had heard was a grunt or a gasp here or there. But she could hear other things, she could hear the cutting device slicing, she could hear all the doctor was saying to his recordings.

She now knew that Time Ladies had two hearts that beat at 170 beats a minute, a body temperature of 15 degrees Celsius, a respiratory bypass system which explained why Evy hadn't passed out from half the gases that had been used, slightly smaller organs than a human along with three other organs the doctor had never seen before. None of which she _ever_ wanted to know by those means.

She flinched as she heard what sounded like a small saw or drill being started when…

"Area 17 incursion, species diagnostic requested," a computer system announced, "Area 17 incursion, species diagnostic requested."

The doctor sighed and shut off the drill. Amy peeked open her eyes to see the doctor turn and click their cuffs, unlocking them just enough where they weren't crushing their wrists anymore but still locking them in place. He put the device that had locked them on a sort of table near the door before walking out.

As soon as the door was shut, Amy looked over at Evy and felt herself get sick. Evy was breathing hard, still strapped to the board. She had tears streaming down her face and she was biting her lip hard. Her hands were clenched into fists as she stared at the door. Amy could see that Evy's shirt had been unbuttoned to do the dissection, revealing a line straight down from her chest to her navel with two angry red lines across one under the bust and the other about an inch above her navel. But the doctor didn't stop there, he'd pulled up the sleeves of Evy's black coat and cut a line up her arms from her wrists to her elbows…it was a miracle she hadn't bled out. It seemed Time Lords also healed slightly quicker than humans and had a higher pain tolerance.

"E-Evy?" Amy called. Evy just stared ahead, "Evy are you alright?"

"Take it Amy," Evy said, her gaze slowly moving from the door to Amy's hand.

Amy looked down to see the locking device floating in the air by her hand. She quickly reached out and grabbed it, unlocking herself and then quickly unlocking the other man before running to Evy's side. She unlocked the girl, nearly collapsing to the floor as Evy fell out of the board and down.

Amy caught her and lowered her to the ground, wiping just the tiniest drop of blood from under Evy's nose with her sleeve when the man ran over to kneel by them as well, "How did you do that?" he asked. He'd been looking at the door only to see the device start floating in midair and over to Amy.

"I'm not human," was all Evy could gasp out before she winced in pain.

"Come on," Amy moved to button up her shirt and help her stand, throwing Evy's arm around her shoulder as gently as possible, "We need to get you out of here."

The man took her other arm, putting it over his shoulder as the two of them helped her out of the room, "That creature, do you think it was an alien?" he asked as they walked down the halls slowly, "Any more of them do you think? Do you think the Earth's been invaded?"

"No," Evy answered, "Yes, and not yet."

"What?" he frowned.

"They aren't aliens," she winced, "They're homo retilia, they were here before the humans, just sleeping. There are most certainly more, the Doctor's discovered a whole civilization. There's only one on the surface so far, she's being watched by Ambrose, Tony, and Rory."

"The Doctor?" he shook his head, not following.

"The man we need to find," Amy told him, "We need to get back to the surface and find him."

"No," Evy gasped, "He's down here."

"He's here?" Amy's eyes widened.

"How do you know?" the man asked.

"He told me he was coming," she replied.

"Through that whole silent telepathy thing you two do?" Amy asked.

"Just that," Evy smiled a bit, "Hold on a second," they paused and Evy closed her eyes, homing in on the Doctor's location, "He's to the right," she whispered, opening her eyes, "We need to head right."

"Right," Amy nodded, looking to see a door on the right of the wall a little ways down, "Maybe through there…" she nodded at it.

The man glanced around at the door to their left and he could see Elliot standing there, wires attached to him, "Oh, my God, no!"

"What is it?" Amy asked, struggling as he let go of Evy's arm to try and force the door open.

"It's my son," he breathed, "It's Elliot. What've they done to him?" Amy turned them to look through the window on the door as he ran to the panel next to it and tried to open it that way, "No! He's in there! We have to get him out! Elliot! Elliot, it's dad!"

"Access denied," the computer said, "Unauthorized genetic imprint."

"Seriously," Amy reached out and grabbed his arm, "We can't get in."

"That's my boy in there!" he shouted.

"He's fine Mo," Evy said.

"Fine?" he asked her incredulously, "Fine! You call that…whatever they've done to him… _fine_?"

"Those screens," she nodded to the side, "They're monitoring something. They're vital signs, see, heartbeat, oxygen, brainwaves. He's still alive. He's just in stasis."

He nodded, seeming to calm down if just a bit, "Alright. We find weapons, get that creature from the lab, and force it to release Elliot, yeah?"

"We _will_ get him out."

"How'd you know his name's Mo?" Amy asked her suddenly as Mo reached out to take her arm again. They'd never gotten to exchanging names.

"That silent telepathy thing," Evy answered, before glancing at Mo, "I'm Evy, by the way, that's Amy."

~8~

The Doctor was clamped down to an examination board, crying out in pain as the machine scanned him as a female warrior questioned another male in an apron.

"How can they have escaped?" she demanded, "This proves all prisoners should remain under military guard."

"I'm sure you'd prefer to be in charge of everything and everyone Restac," the doctor replied, "But we rank the same. Is there any word from Alaya?"

"No," she turned to watch the Doctor writhe in pain.

"It's fine to show concern, you know. She's part of your gene-chain. I'm decontaminating now."

"Decontamination!" the Doctor shouted, twisting, "No, no, no!"

"It's alright. It won't harm you. I'm only neutralizing all your ape bacteria."

"I'm not an ape! Look at the scans! Two hearts! Totall…"

"Two hearts?" the doctor's eyes widened. He quickly reached out and shut off the decontamination process.

"No, complete the process," Restac ordered.

"I cannot. He is not an ape. He is like the female."

The Doctor couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, Evy was there, he knew she was alive…but she was still blocking her feelings…though he had done the same the last few minutes, not wanting her to worry about him. Perhaps she had blocked her own stint in decontamination as well, but...that would have been ages ago, she should have dropped the emotional blocks by now.

He had to get out of the board to find her, so he turned back to the Silurians, "Oh, that's much better, thanks!" he smiled at them, "Not got any celery, have you? No, no, not really the climate, tomatoes, though, you'd do a roaring trade in those. I'm the Doctor, oh, and there's Nasreen, good!" he looked over to see the doctor standing by Nasreen who was strapped down as well, just waking up.

"Oh, a green man," she muttered, seeing the lizard doctor.

"Hello, who are you?" he turned to Restac.

"Restac," she answered, "Military commander."

"Oh, dear, really?" he frowned, "There's always a military, isn't there?"

"Your weapon was attacking the oxygen pockets above our city," the lizard doctor replied.

"Oxygen pockets! Lovely! Ooh, but not so good with an impending drill! Now it makes sense!"

"Where is the rest of your invasion force?" Restac demanded of the Doctor.

"Invasion force?" he nearly laughed, "Me and lovely Nasreen? No! We came for the humans and, um, the female like me, that you took. And...to offer the safe return of Alaya. Oh, wait, you and she, what is it, same genetic source? Of course you're worried, but don't be, she's safe."

"You claim to come in peace, but you hold one of us hostage," Restac stated. She motioned for the soldiers to take position by the Doctor and Nasreen.

"Wait, wait, we all want the same thing here."

"I don't negotiate with apes," she spat before turning to the doctor, "I'm going to send a clear message to those on the surface."

"What's that?" the Doctor frowned.

"Your execution," Restac sneered.

The Doctor nodded slowly, "Yes..."

~8~

"Idiot…" Evy muttered to herself, but Amy and Mo heard her.

"What?" Amy asked, "What's wrong?"

"The military commander of the Silurians…uh, those reptile creatures," she explained to them, "She's planning the Doctor and Nasreen's execution."

"We have to help them!" Amy gasped.

"We've got to find some weapons first," Mo said, looking around at the chamber with glass covered alcoves they'd just entered.

"These chambers are all over the city," Amy remarked, placing a hand on a sensor on the wall, causing the alcoves to light up and reveal masked reptilian warriors inside.

Mo jumped back in surprise, "Turn it off quick!" he shouted, afraid of being seen. Amy quickly put her hand on the sensor again and the lights went off, "They're not moving."

"They're not going to move," Evy told them, leaning on Amy, she'd gotten a bit of her strength back, enough to just need the support of one person. Amy and Mo had been taking turns supporting her, "They're in stasis as well."

"Let's have another look!" Amy shouted, pushing the sensor down more.

This time the glass doors slid open. Amy turned to Evy, leaning her against the wall as she went to examine the soldiers.

"Amy, what are you doing?" Mo hissed, "Get out of there."

Amy looked them up and down, seeing them standing on small round discs, "I wonder what these are…" she knelt down.

"Amy, look up," Evy called from where she'd slid down the wall to sit, wrapping her arms around her stomach, the incisions were starting to burn rather badly from all the movement.

Amy looked up to see a sort of chute above each warrior, "So _that's_ how they came up to the surface. Some sort of powered transport discs…"

"Geothermal energy coupled with gravity bubble-technology."

"So we have our way out!" Amy grinned, looking back at them.

"Even better, weapons," Mo said, taking a sort of gun with a dish on the end of it from the soldier in front of him, "Come on, now we can fight back," Amy slowly reached out and took one as well, "There's only two…"

"I don't use weapons," Evy cut in, "Especially not guns of any sort."

Mo nodded as Amy went to close the containers. They helped Evy to her feet, Mo supporting her now, "Which way now?"

"Door at the end," Amy suggested as there was no other door they could go through. She walked ahead of them to get the door, stopping short when they came upon a huge chamber filled with soldier upon soldier in stasis.

"We don't stand a chance," Mo breathed.

"We have to find the Doctor," Amy turned to Evy who nodded and closed her eyes.

"Left," she said and they were off.

~8~

The Doctor and Nasreen were being led through the city, through a section of flora, the Doctor just telling Nasreen what he knew of the Silurians, "These must be the only ones awake, the others must still be in hibernation."

"So, why did they go into hibernation in the first place?" Nasreen asked.

"Their astronomers predicted a planet heading to Earth on a crash course. They a built life underground and put themselves to sleep for millennia in order to avert what they thought was the apocalypse. When, in reality, it was the Moon, coming into alignment with the Earth."

Restac and the doctor, Malokeh, stopped and turned to look at him, stunned, "How can you know that?" Malokeh asked.

"Long time ago, I met another tribe of homo reptilia, similar, but not identical."

"Others of our species have survived?" Restac breathed, actually sounding…human.

"The humans attacked them," the Doctor answered grimly, "They died, I'm sorry."

"A vermin race," she spat, spinning to lead them off once again, through the flora and eventually to a large citadel like structure. They were led into a large court room, escorted by soldiers.

"You're not authorized to do this!" Malokeh told her.

"I'm authorized to protect the safety of our species while they sleep."

"Oh, lovely place, very gleaming," the Doctor looked around, "Evy would love this."

"This is our court and our place of execution."

Suddenly Amy ran through a door, aiming her gun at Restac, "Let them go!"

"Amy Pond, there's a girl to rely on," the Doctor laughed as Mo entered through the main door behind the soldiers.

"You're covered both ways, so don't try anything clever, buster," Amy threatened.

The Doctor nearly smiled…when Evy stumbled out behind Amy and half collapsed to the ground.

"Evy!" he shouted, running to her side, completely disregarding the guns still aimed at him. He skid to her side, reaching out to take her face in his own. He could tell, just by looking at her, that something was wrong. She was pale, sweating, her face was drawn in pain, there were tear tracks down her face, she was shaking and breathing heavily.

"What happened?" he asked, searching her eyes, but she winced, her arms circling around her stomach.

He looked down at her, reaching out tentatively to the bottom of her shirt. He pulled it up just enough to see an angry red line on her stomach, obviously an incision mark.

He saw red.

"What did you do to her?!" he spun around, glaring at Malokeh.

"Doctor!" Evy shouted, reaching out to grab his arm.

He struggled to get out of her grip, ready to launch himself at the reptile, all too willing to strangle the man, when Evy let out a hiss of pain. He spun back to her, only to see another angry red incision on the wrist of the hand that was holding him back. He pushed her sleeves up to her elbows, gently running a finger over the mark on her pale skin.

"They dissected you?" he breathed, stunned. That was what she was blocking before.

"It wasn't their fault," she winced again, feeling his rage building. She quickly reached out, pulling his head to hers, resting her forehead against his, allowing him to see her memories of it. How Malokeh had _tried_ to numb the spot, not knowing his injections wouldn't work on a non-human, how he'd apologized whenever he poked something new. Trying to show him that it wasn't an intentional pain, they hadn't meant to hurt her, and knowing that if she didn't calm him soon whatever peace he'd been hoping for would be shattered by his own actions.

She squeezed his arm, still in her grip, not wanting him to leave her, taking comfort in his presence. It soothed her, almost made her forget her pain.

He closed his eyes and rested his head against her, just holding her. If he let go now, he would do something he regretted…

"Now let them go, or I shoot," Amy called out, seeing Evy truly in pain for the first time. She'd covered it so well before, but she could never hide anything from the Doctor. Restac moved closer, "I'm warning you!"

Restac reached out and wrenched the gun away from Amy, pushing her to the ground.

"Leave her alone!" Evy shouted, her grip on the Doctor tightening as she used him to help herself up as he stood as well.

"Don't you touch her!" the Doctor yelled.

"And you," Restac nodded at Mo. Soldiers walked up and Mo was forced to give up his gun.

"Alright, Restac," Malokeh stepped up, the display of anger and concern from the non-human male over the pain of the non-human female struck something in him, "You've made your point."

"This is now a military tribunal," Restac said, stepping up to him, "Go back to your laboratory, Malokeh."

One of the soldiers stepped up and jabbed Malokeh in the back. He glanced over at the Doctor who was holding Evy to his chest tightly, "This isn't the way," he told Restac before leaving.

"Prepare them for execution."

The soldiers stepped forward and began to push them towards a few pillars in the back of the room, tying them to it.

"Ok, sorry, as rescues go, didn't live up to its potential," Amy apologized.

"I'm glad you're ok," the Doctor told her, trying to hold onto Evy as they were pushed against the pillars.

"Me too," Amy said quietly, glancing at Evy as her arms were forced behind her to be tied, "Lizard men, though!"

"Homo reptilia..." Evy replied, "Previous inhabitants of the planet who want it back."

"After they've wiped out the human race," Nasreen added.

"Right, preferred it when I didn't know, to be honest," Amy muttered as she, Nasreen, and Mo were chained to one pillar and the Doctor and Evy on the other.

The soldiers lined up like a firing squad, aiming their guns but making no move to fire.

"Why are they waiting?" Nasreen asked, "What do you think they're going to do with us?"

Restac turned away from them, nodding to someone off to the side as a large holographic projection appeared before her showing Ambrose, Tony, and Rory standing around.

"Oh, my God," Ambrose gasped, seeing them.

"Who is the ape leader?" Restac asked.

"It's them," Ambrose rushed closer to the monitor with Rory and Tony, "How are they doing that? How do they know that we're in here?

"Who speaks for the apes?"

They looked at each other, talking quietly amongst themselves before Rory stepped forward, "I speak for the...humans. Some of us, anyway."

"Do you understand who we are?"

"Sort of," he nodded, "A bit. Not really."

"We have ape hostages," Restac informed them. She must have zoomed out the image because the expressions on Rory, Tony, and Ambrose's faces turned to alarm.

"Doctor!" Rory shouted, "Amy! Evy!"

"Mo!" Ambrose shouted, "Mo, are you ok?"

"I'm fine, love!" Mo called back, "I've found Elliot. I'm bringing him home!'"

"Amy!" Rory breathed, "I thought I'd lost you!"

"What, 'cos I was sucked into the ground?" Amy rolled her eyes, "You're so clingy."

"Tony Mack!" Nasreen called.

"Having fun down there?" Tony laughed.

"Not to interrupt, but just a quick reminder to stay calm," the Doctor told them.

"Show me Alaya," Restac demanded, "Show me and release her, immediately, unharmed, or we kill your friends…one by one."

"No!" Ambrose shouted.

"Ambrose..." Rory began.

"Steady now, everyone," the Doctor replied.

"Ambrose, stop it!" Tony tried to pull Ambrose away.

"Get off me, dad!" Ambrose cried, pushing him away, "We didn't start this!"

"Leave this to Rory Ambrose," Evy called over. She had been watching them closely and couldn't help but get the feeling something was _very_ wrong.

"We're not doing what you say any more," Ambrose glared at Restac, "Now, give me back my family!"

Everyone tensed waiting for Restac's reply. Evy and the Doctor exchanged uneasy glances, already knowing what the reptile would say.

"No," Restac replied, turning to the soldiers, "Execute the girl."

The soldiers turned, focusing in on Amy.

"No!" Rory shoved Ambrose aside, "No, wait!"

"Rory!" Amy shouted.

"She's not speaking for us!" Rory tried again as Amy was pushed to the center of the room in front of the soldiers.

"There's no need for this..." the Doctor began.

"Listen!" Rory shouted, "Listen! Whatever you want...we'll do it!"

"Aim," Restac commanded.

"Amy!"

"Rory!" she called back.

"Don't do this!" the Doctor yelled.

"No!" Rory shouted, just before the connection was cut off.

"Fire!" Restac ordered.

Amy shut her eyes tight…

"What is this trickery?" Restac screeched.

Amy's eyes shot open to see all the guns in the soldiers hands had been wrenched from them and were floating above them out of reach. Amy spun around to see Evy staring at them intently, a small bit of blood starting to drip from her nose.

Restac seemed to notice this as well. She stormed over to Evy, the Doctor struggling against his restraints, raising her hand to strike her when…

"Stop!" a voice called.

Restac spun to see Malokeh entering the room with a Silurian elder. The guns fell to the ground as Evy winced and leaned her head against the Doctor's shoulders. Her head was pounding now, something she didn't need on top of the pain in her stomach and arms, but something she would endure to protect the humans. The Doctor let out a breath of relief and dropped his head onto hers, kissing her hair.

"You want to start a war, while the rest of us sleep, Restac?" the elder demanded, striding forward.

"The apes are attacking us!" Restac shouted.

"You're our protector, not our commander, Restac. Unchain them."

"I do not recognize your authority at this time, Eldane."

"Well, then, you must shoot me," Eldane grinned.

Restac sneered and strode over to Malokeh, "You woke him to undermine me."

"We're not monsters," Malokeh sighed, "And neither are they."

"What is it about apes you love so much? Hmm?"

"While you slept, they've evolved. They can be remarkably selfless and sacrificing. I've seen it for myself," his gaze drifted over to Evy, not about to tell Restac that she wasn't technically an ape.

The Doctor lifted his head to look at Evy and then over to Malokeh and then settled on Amy who was looking down…and he realized. Evy had given herself up for dissection so Amy wouldn't be.

"We used to hunt apes for sport," Restac spat, "When we came underground, they bred and polluted this planet."

"Shush now, Restac," Eldane told her, having enough of her, "Go and play soldier. I'll let you know if I need you."

"You'll need me, then we'll see," Restac threatened, storming out.

"I apologize for her," Eldane turned back to them, nodding at the soldiers to unchain them. As soon as they were free, the Doctor checked on Evy, looking into her eyes, making sure she hadn't strained herself by holding all those guns away from the soldiers. Seeing that she was fine aside from a headache, he walked over to the projection, still playing static and flashed his sonic across it as Evy stepped over to his side.

"Rory!" the Doctor shouted, getting the picture back up, "Hello!'"

"Doctor!" Rory shouted, "Evy! Where's Amy?"

"She's fine," Evy smiled, nodding behind her, "Right here."

Rory breathed a sigh of relief, seeing Amy standing behind them, "Oh, thank God."

"Keeping you on your toes!" Amy smiled and walked off.

"No time to chat," the Doctor cut in, getting down to business, "Listen, you need to get down here...go to the drill storeroom, there's a large patch of earth in the middle of the floor."

"We'll have the Silurians send up their transport discs so you can come down here," Evy explained, "They use a system of geothermal energy and gravity bubble-technology..."

"It's how they travel and frankly it's pretty cool," the Doctor grinned, "Bring Alaya. We hand her over, we can land this after all. All going to work, promise. Got to dash! Hurry up!"

And then he cut off the signal.

~8~

They had gotten Eldane to agree to discussing possibilities for the planet, peace talks as it were. He, Amy, and Nasreen were seated at a table in the courtroom with the Doctor and Evy standing at the one end, Mo and Malokeh on the other.

"I'd say you've got a fair bit to talk about," the Doctor began.

"How so?" Eldane asked.

"The Earth," Evy said, "You both want it and have a real claim to it."

"Are you authorized to negotiate on behalf of humanity?" Eldane turned to the Doctor and Evy.

"Us?" the Doctor grinned, hugging Evy to his side, "No!"

Evy nodded at Nasreen and Amy, "But they are."

"What?" Nasreen gasped.

"No, we're not!" Amy shouted.

"Course you are!" the Doctor laughed, "Amy Pond and Nasreen Chaudhry, speaking for the planet! Humanity couldn't have better ambassadors. Come on, who has more fun than us?"

Amy got up and walked over to them, "Is this what happens, in the future, the planet gets shared? Is that what we need to do?"

Nasreen got up as well, "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, Nasreen, sorry, probably worth mentioning at this stage, Amy, Evy, and I travel in time a bit," the Doctor told her.

"Anything else?" she smiled.

Evy glanced at the Doctor before turning back to the woman, careful of what to say, "There are events that are fixed points in time, what happens then must always happen. But this, right here, it's not one of them. The chance you have right now is a temporal tipping point. Whatever happens will change the future and create its own timeline, its own reality."

"The future pivots around you," the Doctor nodded, "Here. Now. So do good. For humanity and for Earth."

"Right," Amy sighed, heading back to the table, "No pressure there, then."

"We can't share the planet," Nasreen continued to argue, "Nobody on the surface is going to go for this idea. It is just too big a leap!"

"Come on," the Doctor nudged her, "Be extraordinary."

"Oh..." she tried to speak, before smirking at him, "You..." she turned and headed back to the table.

"I love it when you do that," Evy told the Doctor. He smiled down at her and gave her a quick peck on the lips.

"Ok," he slapped the table, "Bringing things to order, the first meeting of representatives of the human race and homo reptilian is now in session. Ha!" he grinned down at Evy, "Never said that before, that's fab!" Evy just laughed and shook her head, "Carry on!" he stepped past the table with Evy, his arm around her waist, supporting her, he could tell she was still a bit weak from her ordeal though the pain of the incisions had dimmed to a mild irritation instead of a burn, "Now, Mo, let's go and get your son," he led Mo and Malokeh towards the door, speaking conversationally to Evy on the way, "Oh, you know, humans, and their predecessors, shooting the breeze. Never thought I'd see it."

Malokeh led them through the tunnels and over to the hall near the dissection room. Evy had tensed when they reached the hall, the Doctor holding onto her tightly as they stopped by the stasis chamber where Elliot was stationed.

"Elliot, there you are," the Doctor smiled as Malokeh began putting in some commands on the panel outside the door.

"If you've harmed him in any way…" Mo threatened, recalling what the lizard had done to him and Evy.

"Of course not!" Malokeh sounded offended, "I only store the young."

"But why?" the Doctor asked, tensing as well.

"I took samples of the young, slowed their lifecycles to a millionth of their normal rate. So I could study how they grew, what they needed, how they lived on the surface."

"Then you've been down here alone, just...working?" Evy asked him, understanding the loneliness.

"My family, through the millennia..." he sighed, "For the last 300 years, just me…" he turned to Evy, guilt in his eyes, "I'm so sorry for what you suffered at my hand," she just smiled and nodded at him, forgiving him, she knew the standard procedures for discovery of a new species, the study of it, she'd done what she had to do to save Amy from that fate. She couldn't blame Malokeh for doing to her what she had all but forced him to do. Malokeh gave her a small smile in return and turned to Mo, "I never meant to harm your child."

"Malokeh, I think we rather love you," the Doctor smiled at him. He could see now that what happened to Evy hadn't been done with the intent to harm her. She'd shown him that she'd basically offered herself for Amy. And she was there, by his side, again, alive, if a bit pained. He didn't like that part at all, but Malokeh _had_ tried to make it painless, even though it hadn't worked. And he knew, once he'd gotten Evy back to the TARDIS med-bay, she'd be healed up in no time, barely a scar left to remind her of this experience.

"It's safe," Evy called, seeing the panel beeping, "You can wake him."

Malokeh entered the room and began removing the wires around Elliot, he glanced up at Mo, gesturing from him to enter, "Come."

Mo stepped in and stood before Elliot as Malokeh stepped out to join the Doctor and Evy by the door, "Elliot?" Mo asked as Elliot blinked, "Ell, it's dad."

"What?" Elliot looked up, "Dad?"

"You're safe now," Mo said, pulling Elliot into a hug.

"Where are we?" Elliot asked, pulling away.

"Well, I've got to be honest with you, son. We're in the center of the Earth…and there are lizard men."

Elliot looked at the doorway where Malokeh was standing and blinked, "Wow…"

The Doctor leaned over into the room, "Elliot, I'm sorry. I took my eye off you."

"It's ok," Elliot smiled, shaking his hand, "I forgive you."

"Oh!" he turned and pulled Evy into the room as well, "And this is Evy…"

"Hello," she gave a little wave.

"Remember I told…"

"It's you!" Elliot's eyes widened as he ran forward and hugged the woman round the middle.

Evy laughed, hugging him back, "Hello Elliot."

"You were right!" he smiled.

"What?" Mo frowned, "Right about what?"

Elliot turned to his dad, "When I got stuck here, I was scared and all, but then I heard this lady talk in my head. She said everything would be fine and not to worry…it's her!" he pointed at Evy, recognizing her voice, "And she was right."

The Doctor looked softly down at Evy, pulling her to him and wrapping his arms around her, "You are remarkable you know that?"

"Well…" she trailed, "Neither of us do very well when children cry."

He leaned forward and gave her a soft kiss.

Malokeh cleared his throat, smiling at them nonetheless, "You go on, that way," he nodded down the tunnel, "I'll catch up."

They nodded their thanks at him before heading back the way he instructed. They reached the courtroom to hear Nasreen speaking, the Doctor motioned for them to remain silent as they slowly entered the room without being noticed.

"…happens when their population grows and breeds and spreads?" Nasreen was asking, "And anyway, what benefit does humanity get, and how would we ever sell this to people on the surface?"

"If I could get a word in, maybe I could tell you," Eldane cut in, "You give us space, we can bring new sources of energy, new methods of water supply, new medicines, scientific advances. We were a great civilization. You provide a place for us on the surface, we'll give you knowledge and technology beyond humanity's dreams. We work together, this planet could achieve greatness."

"Ok," Nasreen nodded, "Now I'm starting to see it."

"Oh, yeah," Amy smiled.

Evy and the Doctor started clapping as Mo and Elliot looked on, proud.

"That was a brilliant first session," Evy smiled at them. She was feeling much better, able to support herself though it hurt if she moved a certain way, stretching the incisions.

"More similarities than differences," the Doctor nodded at them.

There was a whooshing sound as Eldane looked up, "The transport has returned. Your friends are here."

Moments later the doors to the courtroom opened and Rory walked in, "Here they are," the Doctor waved.

Ambrose was the next in, Elliot running to her, "Mum!"

"Rory!" Amy shouted at Rory, who looked like he was trying to find words to say but coming up short, and not out of joy.

Evy frowned, the expression on his face, ' _Doctor…something's happened_.'

The Doctor nodded, "Something's wrong..." he breathed.

And then Tony entered the room, carrying a body in a shroud that could only be Alaya.

"Doctor, what's he carrying?" Amy asked, tensing.

"No," the Doctor shook his head frantically as he stepped forward with Evy, "Don't do this. Tell me you didn't do this."

Tony placed the body on the floor, the Doctor squatting down to pull the cloth away, revealing Alaya. His jaw tensed as he put the cloth back and glared at Tony, "What did you do?"

"I don't think it was him," Evy said, her gaze fixed on Ambrose.

"It was me," Ambrose admitted, "I did it."

"Mum?" Elliot looked at his mother in horror.

"I just wanted you back," she told her son desperately.

Elliot just shook his head and stepped back from her, moving back to his father's side as everyone looked at her with pity and shame.

"We're sorry," the Doctor turned to Eldane.

"We didn't know," Evy told him.

"You have to believe us. They're better than this."

"This is our planet!" Ambrose shouted.

"You're not really helping Ambrose!" Evy snapped at her.

"We had a chance here," the Doctor told her.

"Leave us alone," Ambrose shouted at Eldane.

The Doctor strode right over to her, "In the future, when you talk about this, you tell people there was a chance but you were so much _less_ than the best of humanity."

Armed soldiers entered the room with Restac, "My sister…" she began, seeing the body. She ran over to it, dropping to a kneel as she uncovered it, wailing before placing the cloth back. She glared at the Doctor and Evy, "And you want us to _trust_ these apes, Doctor?"

" _One_ woman," Evy argued, "Who was scared for her child. Humans aren't normally like this."

"I think they are," Restac turned on Ambrose.

"One person let us down," the Doctor turned to Eldane, "But there's a whole race of dazzling, peaceful human beings up there. You were building something, here, come on...an alliance could work."

"It's too late for that, Doctor," Ambrose threatened. The Doctor and Evy spun around to look at Ambrose questioningly.

"Why?" Evy asked, eyeing her.

"Our drill is set to start burrowing again in..." she checked as stopwatch, "15 minutes."

"No!"

"What?" Nasreen's eyes widened, turning to Tony, the only one up there who knew how to control the drill.

"What choice did I have?" Tony cried, "They had Elliot."

"Don't do this, don't call their bluff," the Doctor turned to Eldane.

"Let us go back," Ambrose continued, "And you promise to never come to the surface ever again. We'll walk away, leave you alone."

"Execute her!" Restac ordered.

"No!" the Doctor pulled Ambrose down as the soldiers began to fire.

"Everybody, head for the lab!" Evy shouted, helping the Doctor get Ambrose to the side of the room where there was an exit, "Run!"

They ran out, Restac shouting behind them, "Execute all the apes!"

Evy pushed Ambrose into the exit, spinning to face them with the Doctor, both whipping out their sonics, flashing as many guns as they could, getting them to explode.

"This is a deadly weapon, stay back!" the Doctor shouted. One of the soldiers leapt at them from the seats, lashing her tongue out at the Doctor. He leapt back, pulling Evy with him and ran from the room, "Take everyone to the lab!" he shouted to Rory, dodging a beam from a gun, "We'll cover you! Go! Go!"

The others ran on, Evy and the Doctor turning to take a stand as Restac and a few of her warriors ran over. They each flashed the sonic, disabling a gun or two, "Ah ah!" the Doctor shouted, "Stop right there! Or we'll use our very deadly weapons again. One warning, that's all you get. If there can be no deal, you go back into hibernation. All of you. Now. This ends here."

"No," Restac spat, "It only ends with our victory."

"Like he said..." Evy shook her head, "One warning."

They flashed the last few guns and ran away, Restac giving chase with a growl.

They ran over to a lab, flashing the door behind them with their sonics, sealing the door shut.

"Mo, you and Elliot watch that screen," Evy pointed to a monitor, "Tell us if any other Silurians arrive."

"Amy," the Doctor tossed her the stopwatch, "Keep reminding us how much time we haven't got."

"Ok, twelve minutes till drill impact," Amy read.

Tony sat down heavily, Nasreen standing over him.

"Tony Mack, sweaty forehead, dilated pupils, what're you hiding?" the Doctor turned to him.

Tony opened his shirt to show green veins protruding from a cut in his neck, spreading across his chest.

"Tony!" Nasreen gasped, "What happened?"

Evy walked over and flashed her sonic across the infected area.

"Alaya's sting," Tony strained, "She said there's no cure. I'm dying, aren't I?"

"No, but you _are_ mutating," Evy told him, "The decontamination program might stop it…Eldane, can you run the program on Tony?" he nodded, moving to help Tony to the decontamination chamber.

"Evy, shedload of those creatures coming our way!" Mo called, "We're surrounded in here!"

"So, question is, how we do stop the drill, given we can't get there in time?" the Doctor turned to Evy, "Plus also, how do we get out, given that we're surrounded?"

Evy frowned a moment in thought before turning to Nasreen, "Nasreen, would you be alright with us channeling an energy pulse up the tunnels to the base of the drill?"

"To blow up my life's work?" she gaped.

"Yes," the Doctor nodded, seeing Evy's plan, "Sorry. No nice way of putting that."

"Right, well, you're going to have to do it before the drill hits the city, in..."

"Eleven minutes, forty seconds..." Amy finished.

"Yes!" the Doctor grinned, "Squeaky bum time!"

"Yes, but the explosion is going to cave in all the surrounding tunnels so we have to be on the surface by then," Nasreen continued.

"But we can't get past Restac's troops," Rory said.

"I can help with that..." Eldane stepped forward, "Toxic Fumigation, an emergency failsafe meant to protect my species from infection. A warning signal to occupy cryo-chambers. After that, citywide fumigation, by toxic gas. Then the city shuts down."

"You could end up killing your own people," Amy frowned.

"Only those foolish enough to follow Restac," Eldane replied. And he was absolutely certain, he did not want any more soldiers like Restac threatening peace in the future.

"Eldane, are you absolutely certain?" Evy asked softly.

"My priority is my race's survival. The Earth isn't ready for us to return yet."

"No," the Doctor agreed grimly.

"Ten minutes," Amy called.

"But maybe it could be…" Evy began, smiling at the Doctor.

He grinned broadly at her, following her thoughts, "So here's the deal. Everybody listening? Eldane, you activate shutdown...Evy'll amend the system, set your alarm for 1,000 years' time," Eldane and Evy moved to the controls as the Doctor turned to the other humans, "1,000 years, to sort the planet out. To be ready. Pass it on. As legend, or prophesy, or religion, but somehow, make it known. This planet is to be shared."

"Yeah," Elliot nodded, "I get you."

"Nine minutes, seven seconds," Amy announced.

The Doctor walked over to Evy and Eldane and looked at the controls, "Yes, fluid controls, my favorite!"

Evy just shook her head at him, "The energy pulse is timed, primed, and set…oh!" she pulled out her sonic and flashed the machine, "Cancelling out the energy barricade..."

"Fumigation pre-launching," Eldane called.

"There's not much time for us to get from here to the surface," Rory commented, concerned.

"Ah ha, super-squeaky bum time!" the Doctor laughed, "Get ready to run for your lives. Now…"

"But the decontamination program on your friend hasn't started yet," Eldane reminded them.

They all turned to look at Tony in the chamber as he waved them off, "Well, go. All of you! Go."

"No, we're not leaving you here!" Ambrose cried.

"Granddad!" Elliot ran to Tony and hugged him.

"Eight minutes, ten seconds," Amy said.

"Now you look after your mum," Tony told Elliot, "You mustn't blame her. She only did what she thought was right."

"I'm not going to see you again, am I?" Elliot frowned.

"I'll be here," he touched Eliot's heart, "Always. I love you, boy," he hugged him tightly again and looked up at Ambrose, "You be sure he gets home safe!" Elliot ran to Mo who pulled him close.

"This is my fault," Ambrose wept.

"No, I can't go back up there. I'd be a freak show. The technology down here's my only hope," he hugged her.

"I love you, dad," she whispered.

"Go. Go. Come on. Go on."

Eldane activated the fumigation.

"Toxic fumigation initiated," the computer announced, "Return to cryo-chambers."

"They're going!" Amy called, looking at the monitor, "We're clear!"

"Ok," the Doctor nodded, "Everyone follow Nasreen. Look for a blue box. Get ready to run," he flashed the door with the sonic, sliding it open before turning to Eldane, "I'm sorry."

"I thought for a moment, our race and the humans..." Eldane sighed.

"Yeah," Evy nodded sadly, "Us too."

"We've got less than six minutes!" Amy called.

"Go!" the Doctor told the group, "Go! We're right behind you!" the humans ran out of the room except for Nasreen, "Let's go!" the Doctor called to her.

"I'm not coming either," she smiled.

"What?"

Nasreen just walked over to Tony and laid a hand on his arm, "We're going to hibernate with them, me and Tony."

"Doctor, Evy, you must go!" Eldane shouted.

"I can be decontaminated when we're woken," Tony looked up at Nasreen, "All the time in the world."

"But...Nasreen...you..." the Doctor frowned.

She walked over to them, "No. This is perfect. I don't want to go. I've got what I was digging for. I can't leave when I've only just found it."

"I couldn't leave either," Evy commented, linking her arm through the Doctor's. He looked down at her, as if just realizing what Nasreen was talking about.

"Doctor!" they heard Amy call from the tunnel, "Evy!"

"Thank you, Doctor," Nasreen smiled at them, "You as well Evy."

"The pleasure was all ours," the Doctor said as he and Evy pulled her into a quick hug before turning and running out of the door.

"Come and look for us!" Nasreen called as the door shut.

They ran through the tunnels, coming to meet up with Amy and Rory who had turned back for them and continued on.

"Toxic fumigation is about to commence."

They ran to the rock bridge over the magma, rushing past Mo, Elliot, and Ambrose, who were stunned at the sight.

"Come on!" Evy shouted at them, getting them running again until they arrived at the tunnel with the TARDIS in it.

"No questions, just get in!" the Doctor shouted, unlocking it, "And yes, we know it's big!" he pushed the door open, ushering the small family inside.

"Ambrose, the med-bay is up the stairs, go left, then left again..." Evy called after them, "Help Mo!"

"Come on! Five minutes and counting..."

"Doctor…" Evy breathed, having turned back to look at Amy and Rory.

He looked over to see her staring at a crack in the tunnel wall across from them, the same crack that had been in Amy's bedroom, "Not here," he shook his head, "Not now."

"Is it just me or is it getting wider?" Evy frowned.

"The crack on my bedroom wall," Amy gasped.

"And the _Byzantium_ ," he added, walking up to it as Evy stood behind with them, "All through the Universe, rips in the continuum."

"It had to have been caused by some sort of space-time cataclysm," Evy shook her head, "An explosion, maybe? But what could be big enough to crack the Universe?"

"Four minutes, fifty..." Amy looked at the watch, "We have to go!"

"The Angels laughed, when we didn't know," the Doctor looked over his shoulder at Evy as he squatted down next to it, "Prisoner Zero knew, everybody knows, except us!"

"Doctor, just leave it!"

"But where there's an explosion…" he pulled out a red hanky from his pocket, "There's shrapnel!"

"Doctor, you can't put your hand in there!" Rory shouted as the Doctor wrapped the hankie around his hand.

"Why not?" he grinned, reaching his hand into the crack. He cried out in pain as the light got brighter, Evy stiffening as she felt his pain course through her arm as it did his. Amy and Rory watched on nervously, "I've got something!"

"What is it?" Amy asked.

He fell back from the crack, landing on the ground on his stomach, something wrapped in the hanky, clutched in his hand, sizzling with heat and energy, "I don't know," he breathed as Evy ran to his side, helping him up.

"Doctor!" Rory shouted.

Restac appeared at the edge of the tunnel, crawling towards them, obviously dying.

The Doctor scrambled to his feet, pushing Evy behind him.

"She was there, when the gas started...she must've been poisoned," Amy reasoned.

"You!" Restac snarled.

"Quick, into the TARDIS," Evy turned to Amy and Rory, "Both of you!"

The Doctor slowly reached into his pocket for his sonic.

"You did this!" Restac screamed, aiming her gun.

"Doctor!" Rory ran forward, jumping in front of him as Restac fired.

"Rory!" Amy shrieked as Rory fell to the ground, in pain.

The Doctor and Evy ran to his side, the Doctor sonicing him as Evy asked, "Rory, can you hear me?"

"I don't understand," he strained.

"Shh, shh," Amy soothed, falling to her knees, stroking his face, "Don't talk," she looked up at Evy and the Doctor, "Is he ok? We have to get him into the TARDIS!"

"We were on the hill. I can't die here."

"Don't say that," Amy replied, tears choking her.

Rory smiled at her softly, "You're so beautiful...I'm sorry."

His head lulled to the side.

"Doctor, help him!"

"Doctor…the crack…" Evy breathed, in fear.

He looked over to see the tendrils of energy reaching out from the crack, already on Rory's feet. He stood quickly, pulling Evy up and away from it, "Amy, move away from the light, if it touches you you'll be wiped from history. Amy, move away now."

"No!" she yelled, "I am not leaving him! We have to help him!"

Evy rushed to her side, touching her shoulder, "The light's already got him, we can't stop it."

"I am not leaving him!"

"We have to."

"No!"

"Sorry!" the Doctor reached out, grabbing her arm.

"Get off me!" she fought.

"Sorry," Evy whispered, grabbing her other arm as she and the Doctor dragged her back to the TARDIS.

"Get off me!" she shrieked, struggling.

As soon as she was in the Doctor held her back as Evy ran to the doors, sonicing them shut.

"No!" Amy broke free and ran for the doors, pounding on them, "No! No! Let me out, please let me out...I need to get Rory."

The Doctor walked determinedly towards the console, Evy beside him.

Amy turned around, tears in her eyes, "That light, if his body's absorbed I'll forget him. He'll never have existed. You can't let that happen."

The Doctor put his hand on a lever on the console, gripping it tightly. Evy reached out and put her hand on it as well. They looked at each other before pulling it down.

"What are you doing?" Amy ran up the console, trying to hit any switch she could that would stop the TARDIS from leaving, "Doctor! Evy! No!"

The Doctor reached out and pulled Amy into a hug, Evy holding her as well, despite the fact she was beating on their chests, sending zings of pain through Evy with each one, but it didn't matter, Amy needed them. They had both experienced a time when they thought they'd lost each other, they could understand what Amy was feeling.

"No!" Amy cried, "No! Evy, please! Doctor, we can't just leave him there!"

"Keep him in your mind," Evy told her, "Don't forget him. If you forget him, you will lose him forever."

"On the _Byzantium_ , I still remembered the clerics because I am a time traveler, now you said…"

The Doctor grabbed her by the shoulders, looking straight at her, "They weren't part of your world. This is different...this is your own history changing."

"Don't tell me it's not going to be ok. You have to make it ok."

"It'll be hard, but you _can_ do it, Amy," Evy pulled her over to the jump seat, sitting her down as they knelt down in front of her, both of them holding her hands, "Tell us about Rory."

"Fantastic Rory, funny Rory, gorgeous Rory," the Doctor agreed, "Amy, listen to us. Do exactly as we say. Amy, please. Keep concentrating. You can do this."

"I can't," she wept.

"You _can_ ," Evy insisted, "You can do it."

"We can't help you unless you do," the Doctor continued, "Come on. We can still save his memory. Come on, Amy. Please…" they watched as she stared into space, trying her hardest to think of Rory, to remember him, "Come on, Amy, come on, Amy, please. Don't let anything distract you."

"Remember Rory. _Keep_ remembering, Rory will only be alive if he's in your memory. You _must_ keep hold of him."

"Don't let anything distract you. Rory still lives in your mind."

…and then the TARDIS jolted, knocking them all to the floor.

Evy landed hard on her side, the Doctor's face inches from her own, the small box Rory had kept Amy's engagement ring in landing right between them as they stared at it.

"What were you saying?" Amy asked, bright, picking herself up from the floor.

The Doctor and Evy could only stare at her. It was over…it was lost…she'd forgotten…oh Rory…

Mo and Elliot came down the stairs with Ambrose, "I have seen some things today, but this is beyond mad," Mo commented, staring around.

"Five seconds till it all goes up!" Amy shouted, looking down at the stopwatch.

The TARDIS landed with a shake, right back in the graveyard, overlooking the drill sight. They all ran out to see the drill explode.

~8~

The Doctor and Evy were leaning against the door to the church with Ambrose, watching as Elliot, Amy, and Mo walked around.

"All Nasreen's work just erased," Amy commented, looking around at the bits of drill and equipment scattered around.

"Good job she's not here to see it," Mo laughed, "She's going to give Tony hell when they wake up."

Ambrose turned to them, "You could've let those things shoot me. You saved me."

"An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind," Evy sighed.

The Doctor nodded, "Now you show your son how wrong you were. How there's another way. You make _him_ the best of humanity...in the way you couldn't be."

They looked at her with a gentle smile before they walked down the steps, hand-in-hand. They met up with Amy and headed back to the TARDIS.

"You're very quiet," Amy commented, eyeing them. Even when they had their silent conversations, they were still much more talkative, more expressive, than this, "Oh! Hey! Look!" she turned to wave, seeing her future self standing in the distance, "There I am again! Hello, me!" she hesitated a moment, frowning as she lowered her arm.

"You alright?" Evy asked.

"I thought I saw someone else there for a second," Amy sighed, shaking her head, "I need a holiday. Didn't we talk about Rio?"

"You go in," the Doctor nodded, "I just gotta fix this lock, keeps jamming…" he unlocked the door and pushed it open.

"You boys and your locksmithery," Amy rolled her eyes, getting into the TARDIS. Evy slowly shut the door behind her and turned back to the Doctor as he pulled out the red hanky wrapped item from his pocket. He looked at her a moment before taking a breath and unwrapping it. He froze, his eyes widening as he saw what was in his hands. He quickly held it up before the sign on the TARDIS.

Evy gasped, her eyes wide as she stared.

It was a broken corner piece of the sign.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Evy. I hated doing that to her, but...I was always curious as to what would have happened if someone HAD been dissected. I know that in the episode just as Malokeh went to dissect Amy the Doctor was captured and he was needed elsewhere. But here, I wrote last chapter that Malokeh was aware the gas wasn't working on Evy, I made it so that he spent more focus on her than Amy and was more rushed so here Amy woke earlier without Malokeh keeping an eye on her and gassing her more. So the events took place just before the Doctor was captured. Poor Evy. I also thought that it would make sense for Evy to not be as affected by being dissected as Amy, or any human, would be. We've seen the Doctor survive radiation poisoning for quite a while, not letting on that he was in pain till the very end, so I figure it might mean they are just a bit more resistant to pain.
> 
> But who loved the Doctor? He just tells the humans not to dissect the Silurian and the Silurians go ahead and dissect not a human, but his LINK. Good thing Evy was there to temper the Oncoming Storm eh? NONE of the Silurians would have survived if she hadn't. It was slightly different her than with the Weeping Angels, Evy was in present danger with them, but here he'd been reunited with her just after the harm had passed, he had her alive in his arms so he wasn't quite as angry/snippy/emotional as when he'd been away from Evy knowing she was in danger.
> 
> Next chapter...Evy's powers make a reappearance as does her inspiration.


	15. Vincent and the Time Lords (Part 1)

The Doctor and Evy were determined to cheer Amy up after losing Rory to the crack. Granted, she couldn't remember she'd lost him, but there were times here and there where she would get a look on her face like she was recalling a terrible loss. They'd taken her all over, to various time periods and planets, the Doctor actually trying to keep the running and terror to a minimum.

Right now they were taking her to the Musee D'Orsay to see an exhibition of her favorite painter, Vincent Van Gogh. They walked in just as an older man in glasses and a bow-tie was explaining the painting 'Wheatfield with Crows,' "So this is one of the last paintings Van Gogh ever painted," the man began, "Those final months of his life were probably the most astonishing artistic outpouring in history. It was like Shakespeare knocking off 'Othello,' 'Macbeth,' and 'King Lear' over the summer hols. And especially astonishing because Van Gogh did it with no hope of praise or reward."

"Thanks for bringing me," Amy said to them, smiling, as she looked around.

"You're very welcome," Evy smiled, standing there with her arm around the Doctor's waist, his arm around her shoulder.

"You're being so nice to me," Amy told them, before narrowing her gaze, "Why are you being so nice to me?"

"We're always nice to you," the Doctor defended.

"Not like this. These places you're taking me, Arcadia, the Trojan Gardens, now this. I think it's suspicious."

"Well, it's not," the Doctor said, too seriously, "There's nothing to be suspicious about."

' _I think she was joking_ ,' Evy murmured to him.

"Ok… _I_ was joking," Amy began, as though hearing Evy's thoughts, "Why aren't _you_?"

"Each of these pictures now is worth tens of millions of pounds," the man continued, "Yet in his lifetime, he was a commercial disaster. Sold only one painting, and that to the sister of a friend. We have here possibly the greatest artist of all time, but when he died, you could've sold his entire body of work and got about enough money to buy a sofa and a couple of chairs," the group he was with laughed, "If you follow me now..."

"Who is it?" a boy asked. They turned to see two small boys looking at the 'Portrait of Dr. Gachet.'

"It's the doctor!" the second boy shouted, "He was the doctor who took care of Van Gogh when he started to go mad."

"I knew that," the first boy muttered as they walked off.

Amy grabbed their arms and pulled them over to a painting, 'Church at Auvers,' holding up her guidebook, "Look! There it is, the actual one."

"Yes," Evy smiled.

"You can almost feel his hand painting it right in front of you," the Doctor sighed, "Carving the colors into shapes..."

"Shapes that shouldn't be there..." Evy murmured, squinting as she leaned closer to the painting.

"Where?" Amy asked as she and the Doctor leaned in as well.

"There."

' _That dark figure in the corner of the church window,_ ' she added silently to the Doctor.

"What?" Amy frowned, not spotting it, "What is it?"

"Something very not good indeed," the Doctor agreed.

"What thing very not good?"

"Look there, in the window of the church," he pointed.

"Is it a face?"

"Yes," he nodded grimly, "And not a nice face at all. We know evil when we see it and we see it in that window."

He quickly made his way over to the tour guide, still lecturing, "It has changed hands for something in the region of 20..."

"Excuse me, if I can just interrupt for one second," the Doctor cut in, holding up the psychic paper, "Sorry, everyone. Routine inspection, Ministry of Art and...Artiness. So, um..."

"Dr. Black," the man introduced.

"Yes, that's right. Do you know when that picture of the church was painted?"

"Ah, what an interesting question. Most people..."

"I'm going to have to hurry you. When was it?"

"Exactly?" Black frowned.

"As exactly as you can. Without a long speech, if poss. We're in a hurry."

"Well, in that case, probably somewhere between the 1st and 3rd of June."

"What year?"

"1890. Less than a year before he killed himself."

"Thank you, sir," the Doctor smiled, "Very helpful indeed. Nice bow-tie…" he leaned over to Evy and Amy, but spoke more to Amy, "Bow-ties are cool."

"Yours is very..."

"Oh, thank you," the Doctor grinned, "Keep telling them stuff," he grabbed Evy's hand and quickly led them back through the exhibit, "We need to go."

"What about the other pictures?" Amy asked.

"Art can wait. This is life and death."

"We have to go see Vincent Van Gogh, quickly," Evy added as they raced off to the TARDIS.

~8~

The TARDIS materialized in the middle of an alleyway at night, the 1st of June 1890. The Doctor, Evy, and Amy stepped out and headed down the alleyway, "Right, so here's the plan," the Doctor began, "We find Vincent and he leads us straight to the church and our nasty friend."

"Easy peasy," Amy agreed.

"Well, no. I suspect nothing will be easy with Mr. Van Gogh. Now, he'll probably be in the local café, sort of orangey light, chairs and tables outside…"

"You mean like in 'The Café Terrace on the Place du Forum, Arles, at Night?'" Evy raised an eyebrow as she and Amy grinned, seeing the café right there but the Doctor was looking around, oblivious.

"Exactly," he nodded, still not seeing it.

Amy rolled her eyes, holding up her guidebook, open to the picture, "Like this…or like that…" she lowered the book to show him the actual café behind it.

"Yeah, exactly like that," he grinned, a bit embarrassed.

Evy just laughed and took his hand in hers, leading him over to the café where the help was clearing tables.

"Good evening," he stepped up to a man who looked like he was the owner, "Does the name Vincent Van Gogh ring a bell?"

"Don't mention that man to me," he stormed off.

Evy looked back at the waitresses, "Excuse me. Do you know Vincent Van Gogh?"

"Unfortunately," a waitress sighed.

"Unfortunately?" Amy frowned from across the entrance way where she was looking at her guidebook.

"He's drunk, he's mad, and he never pays his bills."

"Good painter, though, eh?" the Doctor smiled.

The waitresses and the patrons laughed at that. The Doctor frowned, moving to sit at one of the tables, dejected. Evy smiled softly at him and walked over, moving to sit on his lap which earned an instant smile from him. She'd noticed that, whenever he sat with her, he preferred her on his lap. It was endlessly sweet, especially when he wrapped his arms around her like he was doing now.

Suddenly there were voices arguing inside the café, getting louder, "Come on!" someone was saying, "Come on! One painting for one drink. That's not a bad deal."

The owner strode out, holding a canvas in his hand, followed by a red haired man, Vincent Van Gogh. Evy and the Doctor pointed at him excitedly as Amy nearly jumped in place, giddy.

"It wouldn't be a bad deal if the painting were any good," the owner sneered, "I can't hang that up on my walls. It'd scare the customers half to death," he held up the painting, the self portrait Van Gogh had made for himself, "It's bad enough having you in here in person, let alone looming over the customers day and night in a stupid hat. You pay money or you get out."

"We could pay," Evy called.

"What?" the owner spun to look at them.

"Well, if you like," the Doctor agreed, "We'll pay for the drink. Or we'll pay for the painting and you can use the money to pay for the drink."

"Exactly who are you?" Van Gogh frowned at them.

"We're...new in town."

"Well, in that case, you don't know three things," Van Gogh rounded on them, "One, I pay for my own drinks, thank you…" the crowd laughed, "Two, no one ever buys any of my paintings or they would be laughed out of town, so if you want to stay in town, I suggest you keep your cash to yourself. And three, your friend's cute, but you should keep your big nose out of other people's business."

The Doctor tensed at Van Gogh's words, his arms tightening around Evy, but Evy just leaned back against him, patting his arm, "He means Amy," she told him, having noticed the small jerk of Van Gogh's head back when he'd spoken of his 'friend.'

Amy blinked, before looking very pleasantly surprised at that bit of information.

"Come on, just one more drink," Van Gogh turned back to the owner, "I'll pay tomorrow."

"No," the owner said.

"Or, on the other hand, slightly more compassionately, yes?"

"Or, on the other hand, to protect my business from madmen, no."

"Or…"

"Oh, look, just shut up the pair of you!" Amy cut in, walking up to them, " _I_ would like a bottle of wine, please, which I will then share with whomever…" she looked at Van Gogh, "I choose."

"That could be good," Van Gogh smiled.

"That's good by me," the owner agreed.

"Good," Amy strode past them inside, the owner heading back after her, but pressing the portrait into Van Gogh's chest on his way. He stood there a moment, looking after Amy, before glancing at the Doctor and Evy still sitting there.

Evy smiled at him, "Her name is Amy," she said, in case he hadn't heard her before.

Van Gogh nodded, smiling, as he walked into the café after the ginger.

~8~

They all sat around a small table in the café, Van Gogh and Amy drinking the wine while the Doctor and Evy sat there, just enjoying the company.

"That accent of yours," Van Gogh eyed Amy, "You from Holland like me?"

"No," Amy said at the same time as the Doctor said, "Yes."

They looked at each other.

"Yes," Evy cut in, "She is, yes."

"So to start again," the Doctor held out a hand, "Hello, this is Evy and I'm the Doctor."

"I knew it!" Van Gogh shouted.

"Sorry?" he frowned, pulling his hand back.

"My brother's always sending doctors, but you won't be able to help."

"No!" he started laughing, "Not that kind of doctor."

"What do you think of that, Amy?" Evy pointed to an unfinished version of 'La Meridienne' next to Van Gogh, distracting him and changing the subject, "Wonderful, isn't it?"

"Absolutely," Amy smiled, "One of my favorites."

"'One of my favorite' whats?" Van Gogh frowned, "You've never seen my work before."

"Ah, yes," Amy's eyes widened, "One of my favorite paintings that I've ever seen. Generally."

"Then you can't have seen many paintings, then," Van Gogh sighed, putting it back down, "I know it's terrible. It's the best I could do…" he turned to Amy, "Your hair is orange."

Amy leaned forward, "Yes. So's yours."

"Yes," he nodded, tilting his head to the side to look at her more closely, "It was more orange, but now is, of course, less."

' _Is he really trying to flirt with her?_ ' Evy asked, glancing at the Doctor.

"So, Vincent, painted any churches recently?" the Doctor cut in, growing a bit uncomfortable with Van Gogh flirting with a taken (even though she didn't remember) woman, "Any churchy plans? Are churches, chapels, religiousy stuff like that, something you'd like to get into? You know, fairly soon?"

"Smooth," Evy rolled her eyes at him.

"Well, there is one church I'm thinking of painting when the weather is right," Van Gogh admitted, startled that he seemed to know about that.

"That is very good news," the Doctor smiled.

Suddenly a woman screamed, "She's been murdered! Help me!"

"That, on the other hand, isn't quite such good news," he jumped to his feet, taking Evy's hand as he ran off, "Come on, Amy, Vincent!"

They ran outside, following the crowd to a back alley where a young woman was lying dead on the cobblestone, a group of locals already gathered around her, "She's been ripped to shreds!" a man cried.

"Please, let me look," the Doctor pushed his way through, "I'm a doctor."

"Who is it?" a second woman asked.

"Oh, no, no, no…" he breathed as he knelt by the body, Van Gogh and Evy on either side of him, Amy looking over his shoulder.

"Is she dead?" another man asked.

A woman pushed her way through, "Away, all of you, vultures! This is my daughter!" she dropped to her knees beside the body, "Giselle. What monster could have done this?" she glared at the Doctor, "Get away from her!"

They jumped to their feet, hands raised as they backed away, "Ok, ok," the Doctor mumbled.

"Get that madman out of here!" the mother threw a stone at Van Gogh who ducked, not even noticing that the stone had bounce off him harmlessly. The crowd started to throw stones, blaming Van Gogh as Amy helped pull him back. The Doctor glanced at Evy to see she had her hand raised, focusing on making a wall as he helped pull her back without breaking her concentration.

"You bring this on us," the mother shouted, "Your madness! You! He's to blame!"

Once they were far enough away they turned and ran, catching up to Amy and Van Gogh. The Doctor lifted her head, examining her, relieved to see no blood this time, they were fairly small stones and quite few. He gave her a quick kiss, making her smile when she pulled away.

She took his hand before turning to Van Gogh, "Are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm used to it," he replied grimly.

"Has anything like this murder happened here before?" the Doctor asked.

"Only a week ago. It's a terrible time."

"As I thought, as I thought," the Doctor nodded.

"Come on, we should get you home for the night," Evy smiled gently at him, not wanting to risk him getting caught by whatever had harmed that Giselle girl, possibly the same creature that the man would come to paint in the church.

"Where are you staying tonight?" Van Gogh asked them, concerned for the people who had shown him kindness.

The Doctor clapped him on the shoulder, "Oh, you're very kind!" he walked off down the alley, Evy tugged along with him. Amy laughed nervously before rushing off after them, leaving a puzzled Van Gogh, who put his straw hat back on and walked off after them.

~8~

Van Gogh led the Doctor, Evy, and Amy through a maze of buildings, "Dark night, very starry," the Doctor commented as Evy elbowed him gently in the stomach.

"It's not much," Van Gogh said as they walked over to a small house, "I live on my own. But you should be ok for one night. ONE night."

"We're going to stay with him?" Amy asked them quietly.

"Until he paints that church," the Doctor told her.

Van Gogh lit a lamp and hung his hat on a hook outside before opening the door, "Watch out. That one's wet."

"What?" Amy asked.

They stepped into the room as Van Gogh lit another lamp to see his cottage was filled with paintings in various stages of completion.

"Sorry about all the clutter," he commented.

"Some clutter," Evy smiled, looking around at all the paintings, letting out a low whistle.

"I've come to accept the only person who's going to love my paintings is me."

"Wow," Amy breathed, seeing them all, "I mean, really. Wow."

The Doctor looked up at the two women as he examined the paintings near him, 'Blossoming Almond Tree,' 'Prisoners Exercising (after Dore),' 'Wheat Filed with Cypresses.'

"Yeah, I know it's a mess," Van Gogh looked around, "I'll have a proper clear out. I must, I really must. Coffee, anyone?"

"None for us, thanks," Evy said, joining the Doctor as he popped his head around the door to see Van Gogh put his coffee down on 'Still Life: Basket with Six Oranges.'

"You know, you should be careful with these," he commented as Van Gogh wiped away the coffee ring with his hand, "They're...precious."

"Precious to me," Van Gogh agreed, "Not precious to anyone else."

The Doctor popped his head back into the main room.

"They're precious to me!" Amy called, joining them.

"Well, you're very kind," Van Gogh smiled warmly at her, "And kindness is most welcome."

"Right, so, this church, then," the Doctor asked, "Near here, is it?"

"What is it with you and the church?" Van Gogh asked as he pulled out some wood for the fire.

"Oh, just casually interested in it, you know," he shrugged.

"Far from casual. Seems to me you never talk about anything else. He's a strange one."

"Oh yes," Evy nodded, "He is."

"Oi!" he pouted.

"But I like strange," she smiled, giving him a peck on the check.

He grinned, spinning to face Van Gogh again, "Ok, so let's talk about you. What are you interested in?"

"Look around," Van Gogh motioned, "Art. It seems to me there's so much more to the world than the average eye is allowed to see," he glanced at Amy looking at 'Starry Night,' "I believe, if you look hard, there are more wonders in this Universe than you could ever have dreamed of."

"You don't have to tell me," the Doctor smiled, looking down at Evy.

Van Gogh smiled, observing them.

~8~

The Doctor was sitting in a chair by the fire as Van Gogh explained his views of art. Evy was highly amused, his rambling about the topic could almost rival the Doctor's when he talked about time.

"It's color!" Van Gogh continued, "Color that holds the key. I can hear the colors. Listen to them. Every time I step outside, I feel nature is shouting at me. 'Come on. Come and get me. Come on. Come on!'" he grabbed the Doctor by his lapels, "'Capture my mystery!'"

"Maybe you've had enough coffee now," the Doctor said slowly, pushing him back slightly, "How about some nice calming tea? Let's get you a cup of chamomile or something, shall we? Amy? Where's Amy?"

"She went out…" Evy turned to point when suddenly Amy screamed, "Amy!" she shouted, rushing out the door, the Doctor and Van Gogh following after. She ran right over to Amy, seeing her on her knees in the yard, "What happened?" she asked, checking to see she was alright, if she'd been hurt.

"I was having a look at the paintings out here when something hit me from behind," Amy gasped.

"It's ok," the Doctor told her, "He's gone now and we're here."

Van Gogh suddenly raised his hands, trying to cover his face in fright, "No!" he backed away.

"Take it easy," the Doctor began, turning to him, "Take it easy!"

"What's happening?" Amy asked, "What's he doing?"

Van Gogh grabbed a large wooden fork and held it in front of him like a weapon, straight at them.

"I don't know…" the Doctor breathed as Van Gogh ran towards them with a shout, "Oh, dear."

They rushed to the side as Van Gogh ran past them, "Run!" he called, "Run!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," the Doctor pushed Amy and Evy towards the door, "That's not a bad idea. Amy, Evy, get back. He's having some kind of fit. I'll try to calm him down."

Evy didn't stay back, of course, turning to walk back with the Doctor as Van Gogh lashed out at something, Amy running back to the door to watch in safety.

Evy's eyes widened in horror.

"Easy, Vincent, easy," the Doctor jumped in front of him, "Look, look. It's me, it's me, it's me…" he held his hands out in front of him, "It's the Doctor, look. No one else is here…"

"Yes there is," Evy breathed, "Doctor!" she shouted.

"Look out!" Van Gogh called at the same time.

The Doctor was thrown to the ground as a scaly tail lashed at him. There was a roar and one of the paintings shredded.

"I can't see anything!" Amy shrieked, "What is it?"

Van Gogh tried to fight it off, holding his fork out in front of him.

"That is a good question," the Doctor pushed himself up and grabbed a stout stick, running to join Van Gogh, "Let me help you."

"You can see him, too?" Van Gogh looked at him.

The Doctor ran to a completely different area of the yard than where Van Gogh was facing and brandished his stick around, "Yes…ish. Well, no. Not really…"

"Doctor!" Evy ran forward, "Give me that!" she pulled the stick out and slammed it to the right. There was a roar as the Doctor was thrown over the table, landing at Van Gogh's feet.

"You couldn't see him," Van Gogh looked down at him.

"No…" he gasped, before he sat up quickly, "But I think _she_ can…"

There was a squeal as they looked over to see Evy duck and swing, breaking the stick on air before running over to them. Van Gogh ran forward, sticking his fork out, hurting whatever it was till it retreated, breaking pieces of the yard as it ran.

"He's gone," Van Gogh breathed.

The Doctor just hugged Evy to him. He didn't like this, he didn't like this at all. HE was supposed to protect her, it was his job as her Link to keep her safe. How could he do that facing something he couldn't see? He swallowed hard, clutching her tighter.

Trust.

He had to trust that she would be alright, that she could handle herself. She'd told him that once. That was the only way she'd managed to not die of dual heart attacks with some of the stunts he'd pulled before knowing his Link existed. He hated this feeling, the terror he felt at knowing she was in danger, he hated the fact that he'd caused Evy to feel it more times than either of them cared to remember even more.

' _I'm fine,_ ' Evy's voice filtered through his mind, ' _I'm right here._ '

He nodded at her thoughts, closing his eyes and resting his head against hers. He needed to figure out what was going on, what the creature was, and either how to fight it or how to see it...and soon...

~8~

"Right…" the Doctor began as they sat in Van Gogh's house, "So he's invisible? What did he look like?"

He turned to Evy but Van Gogh spoke, "I'll show you," he pulled out one of his paintings of irises and painted over it in white.

"Oh, no, no, no!" the Doctor exclaimed as Amy gasped and covered her mouth, Evy just frowning.

"What?" he looked up, startled.

"That one was beautiful," Evy commented.

"On you go," the Doctor sighed, waving him on.

As soon as the paint dried Van Gogh got to work, sketching the creature with charcoal, Amy and the Doctor watching intently. It was an almost bird-like creature with a beak and talons but also a bit reptilian.

"Ok, ok…" the Doctor took the sketch, "Right. Amy, make Mr. Van Gogh comfortable. Don't let any invisible monsters in through the front door."

"But it could be outside, waiting," Amy got up.

"Don't worry, I'll risk it," he grinned, "What's the worst that can happen?"

"You could get torn into pieces by a monster you can't see."

"Oh, right, yes. That."

"Don't worry," Evy got up and walked over to him, "I can see it, I'll keep him safe."

"How _can_ you see it?" Van Gogh looked at her closely, trying to figure it out. He felt like he knew why HE could see it, he saw the world differently, he was mad as everyone claimed, he knew that's how they saw his visions of the world, as madness.

She just gave him a smile, sensing his thoughts, "You're not the only mad one here."

The Doctor smiled down at her before looking back at Amy and Van Gogh, "We'll be back before you can say, 'Where've they got to now?'" they headed out the door, Amy sighing and turning to face Van Gogh, "Not that fast!" the Doctor shouted, appearing in the doorway, making Amy jump, "But pretty fast," he grinned.

Just then an arm appeared through the doorway, smacking him upside the head.

"Ow!" he winced at the sting.

"Oh come on!" Evy's voice called and the hand attached to the arm grabbed the Doctor by his lapel, and pulled him out of the room.

They got outside the cottage, a soft growl reaching them as they came to an alley. The Doctor looked at Evy who put a finger to her lip, leading him forward, carefully. She couldn't see the creature around though, so they continued on quietly.

' _Doctor…_ ' Evy said as they reached the alley where they'd parked the TARDIS, ' _Not to alarm you, but the creature is behind us_.'

' _How far?_ ' he asked her as they picked up the pace.

' _Not too far…get the key to the TARDIS out and just try to get in quickly._ '

He nodded, opening the door to the TARDIS and slipping in as Evy quickly ran in and shut the door. They leaned against it, listening, hearing a low growling from the other side but moments later it passed. The Doctor breathed a sigh of relief, helping Evy up as he walked back to the chest in the back of the TARDIS. He began tossing some things away, while Evy held the painting, till he could pull it out.

"Right…" he muttered to himself as he dug through the chest, "You in here somewhere? I can't apologize enough. I thought you were just a useless gadget. I thought you were just an embarrassing present from a dull godmother with two heads and bad breath. Twice…" he pulled out a device that seemed to be a mirror attached to a harness, "How wrong can a man be?"

"Do you _really_ want an answer to that?" Evy eyed him, amused.

"Ha ha," he smiled at her, before moving to hook it up to the TARDIS for power. He made a face in the mirror, sticking out his tongue. The TARDIS then printed out a picture of his first two incarnations, naming his species and planet of origin.

"Good," he looked over at the pictures printing, ripping them out so it would stop printing, "Ok, you're working. Now…see what you make of this," Evy stepped up, holding the sketch for the machine to scan, "Who is that?"

"What's it say?" Evy asked from behind it.

"A parrot," he sighed _,_ "No, we know it's not that. There are thousands of them and you can see them plain as day. Not that either…"

"What?"

"A polar bear."

She snorted at his answer, "Definitely not."

"This is the problem with the impressionists," he commented, taking the picture from her, "Not accurate enough. This would never happen with Gainsborough or one of those proper painters. Sorry, Vincent…" he tossed the sketch to the back of the TARDIS, "You'll just have to draw something better."

~8~

The Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS, wearing the harness and the device, the mirror aimed over his shoulder as Evy locked the door behind them with a swipe of her finger while the Doctor adjusted the controls. The device beeped and the Doctor smiled, "That's better, old girl. Time-delay, but you always get it right in the end. Good. Let's find out who this is, then…" he moved the mirror to show Evy the results as well, "Is that it?" he asked her as a larger reptilian chicken appeared.

"That's it," she nodded, frowning as she read the results, "The poor thing…"

"The brutal, murderous, abandoned thing. I hope we meet again soon so we can take it home."

"Doctor…" she stiffened, feeling breath on her neck.

He slowly fixed the mirror, seeing the creature over their shoulders, "Maybe not _that_ soon."

She grabbed his hand, pulling him down the alley with a cry of, "Just _stop_ talking!"

She checked over her shoulder as he checked in the mirror while they ran. They both started knocking over tables and other items, trying to slow it down. Evy pushed the Doctor around the corner, hiding, as the creature roared, but then fell silent.

She peered around the wall to see the creature lumber off, giving up the chase. She sighed, resting her head against the Doctor's chest, "It's gone," she mumbled.

The Doctor looked around the corner himself, only to come face-to-face with Amy. He yelled, startling Evy who jumped, "Never do that!" he shouted at her, "You scared the living daylights out of us."

"Sorry," Amy said, "I got bored. As much as you admire his command of color and shape, it is hard to get fond of Vincent Van Gogh's snoring."

~8~

They entered Van Gogh's bedroom to see him lying on his bed snoring loudly.

"Wake, wakey!" the Doctor called as Evy worked on letting sunlight in, "Rise and shine! Breakfast is served in the courtyard," a moment later the room was flooded with light, "Whoa! What a morning," he clapped, getting him up.

"Come on," Evy called as they headed out, "Amy has a surprise for you."

Van Gogh walked out, confused, to see Amy sitting at a table, surrounded by sunflowers scattered around in different containers, breakfast laid out on a tray before her.

"I thought I'd brighten things up to thank you for helping save me last night," she called up to him.

"Ah!" he smiled, looking around.

"I thought you might like, you know, possibly, to, perhaps, paint them or something? Might be a thought."

Evy set down a second tray as the Doctor joined Amy at the table, sitting down herself as well.

"Yes," Van Gogh frowned, "They're not my _favorite_ flower."

"YOU don't like sunflowers?" Amy asked, astonished.

"No, it's not that I don't _like_ them. I find them complex. Always somewhere between living and dying…" he held one of the flowers by his window, "Half-human as they turn to the sun. A little disgusting. But, you know, they _are_ a challenge."

"And one I'm pretty sure you will rise to," the Doctor agreed, "But, moving on, there's something we need to show you."

~8~

After breakfast the Doctor and Evy presented Van Gogh with the printout of the creature, "That's him," he said, sitting down, "And the eyes. Without mercy."

"It's called a Krafayis," Evy explained, "Apparently their species travel in packs throughout space as scavengers. There are times where one might get left behind."

"And because they are a brutal race, the others never come back," the Doctor continued, "So, dotted all around the Universe are individual, utterly merciless, utterly abandoned Krafayis. And what they do is...well, kill, until they're killed. Which they usually aren't. Because other creatures can't see them."

"But we can?" Van Gogh looked up at Evy.

"Yes," she agreed.

"And that's why we are in a unique position today, my friend, to end this reign of terror," the Doctor said, "So, feeling like painting the church today?"

"What about the monster?" Van Gogh asked.

"Take our word for it. If you paint it, he will come."

Van Gogh stood, "Ok. I'll get my things."

"When you're ready," Evy called, not wanting to rush him. She knew that she and the Doctor could probably figure out a way to get the creature, but since it was supposedly at the church and Van Gogh could see it also, it made a better strategy to have two sets of eyes and knock off a priceless painting at the same time. Not to mention, it made the Doctor feel much better if Evy wasn't the only one there who could see the creature. They'd already figured out that she could see it because of the inspiration the Untempered Schism had given her, she could see what others missed, what others couldn't. The same principle applied to Van Gogh in a way, he could see the wonders of the Universe, what others couldn't, see things in a different way...

"We promise you," the Doctor added, "We'll be out of your hair by this time tomorrow," Van Gogh hesitated in the doorway, glancing at Amy, before going into the other room. The Doctor sighed, "This is risky."

"Riskier than normal?" Amy asked.

He stood to see if Van Gogh could hear them, before turning around, "Well, think about it. This is the middle of Vincent Van Gogh's greatest year of painting. If we're not careful, the result of our trip could be the brutal murder of the greatest artist who ever lived. Half the pictures on the wall of the Musee D'Orsay will disappear," he collapsed in a seat next to Amy, "And it will be our fault."

Evy moved to take his hand, "Then we make sure that doesn't happen."

The Doctor looked up at her and smiled softly before pulling her down onto his lap, resting his head to her temple.

~8~

The Doctor knocked on Van Gogh's bedroom door as Evy called out, "Vincent?"

No reply.

"Vincent!" the Doctor tried, before opening the door.

Van Gogh was lying face down on his bed, crying.

"Oh Vincent," Evy breathed, walking over to kneel beside the bed, resting a hand on his shoulder.

"Vincent, can we help?" the Doctor asked, stepping more into the room.

"It's so clear you cannot help," he remarked, "And when you leave, and everyone _always_ leaves, I will be left once more with an empty heart and no hope," he rolled over to look at them.

"Our experience is that there is, you know, surprisingly, always hope," the Doctor replied, his hand on Evy's shoulder, he'd learned from her to never give up on that hope.

"Then your experience is incomplete," he snapped, "I know how it will end, and it will not end well."

"Come on," Evy reached out gently, "Why don't we get you out of here, hmm? Go go outside?"

"Out!" he shouted, lashing out at them. The Doctor pulled Evy back, "You get out. What are you doing here? What are you doing here?"

They backed away towards the door, "Very well," the Doctor sighed, "We'll leave. We'll leave you."

Van Gogh curled into a fetal position and sobbed as they shut the door. They exchanged a concerned look, before turning to lean against the railing, just looking out as Amy came up the stairs.

"What's happening?" she frowned.

"We need to go," Evy told her.

"Why?"

"Everyone knows he's a delicate man," the Doctor remarked.

"We can't push him," Evy explained, "We can't risk him…"

The Doctor swallowed, "Just months from now he'll...he'll take his own life," he pushed away from the rail, taking Evy's hand and leading her down the stairs, past Amy.

"Don't say that," Amy begged, "Please."

They said nothing as they walked on. They came to the bottom floor of the cottage, just taking their time to look at all the beautiful paintings, taking one last look…they didn't know how long they stood there, but at some point Amy had come to join them.

"Come on," Evy reached out taking Amy's arm, "It's up to us to see it through."

"Go to the church at the right time and hope the monster still turns up," the Doctor agreed.

A shadow fell across them as Van Gogh appeared in the doorway, his coat and hat on, "I'm ready. Let's go," he picked up a brush.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's an interesting twist, Evy can see it too. She can't exactly tell Vincent she's an alien just yet and I think she also wanted him to feel better about being called mad so she said that. But really, it's her inspiration, it's based on the fact that she can see things others miss, different paths, things they can't quite make out. I figure, she could use that to see the Krafayis too. Which brings up an interesting thought, if she can see things others can't, then can she remember things others can't? I guess we'll find out when the Silence get involved.
> 
> Next chapter...Evy's quite the...colorful...character. The Doctor's stealing kisses. Evy offers Vincent a small comfort and discovers a new talent.


	16. Vincent and the Time Lords (Part 2)

Amy was walking alongside Van Gogh, her arm tucked in his as she carried a canvas and he the easel and palette. The Doctor and Evy were walking, hand-in-hand, behind them.

"I'm sorry you're so sad," Amy said softly.

"But I'm not," he laughed happily, "Sometimes these moods torture me for weeks, for months. But I'm good now. If Amy Pond can soldier on, then so can Vincent Van Gogh."

"I'm not soldiering on. I'm fine."

"Oh, Amy, I hear the song of your sadness," he looked at her sadly, "You've lost someone I think."

"I'm not sad," she said, for some reason unable to bring herself to say she hadn't lost someone.

"Then why are you crying?" he asked. Amy put a hand to her cheek and wiped away a tear, surprised that she hadn't even realized she _was_ crying and confused as she didn't know why she was, "It's alright. I understand."

"I'm not sure I do."

The Doctor squeezed Evy's hand as they walked behind the pair, both of them knowing her tears were for Rory, even though she didn't remember him, "Ok," the Doctor cut in, "Ok! So, now, we must have a plan. When the creature returns..."

"Then we shall fight him again," Van Gogh stopped and faced them.

"Well, yes, tick. But last night we were lucky. Amy could have been killed," he closed his eyes a moment, not even wanting to entertain the thought of Evy having been in danger too, "So this time, for a start, we have to make sure I can see him, too."

"And how are we meant to do that suddenly?" Amy asked.

"Short of me lending him my eyes…" Evy replied, she'd suggested the Doctor use her vision to fight the creature but it took a lot of concentration and there was no guarantee either of them would be able to fight while doing so, "We've got a dev…"

"The answer's in this box," the Doctor cut in, holding up the case in his other hand, not wanting to give up the secret, "I had an excellent, if smelly, godmother."

They came to the end of a path where it connected to the main road, a funeral procession walking past, sunflowers resting on the coffin, "Oh, no," Van Gogh breathed, "It's that poor girl from the village."

They stood there, respectfully, at the side of the road as the procession passed. The mother looked at them but said nothing.

"You do have a plan, don't you?" Amy looked at them.

"Oh Amy," Evy shook her head, "He never has a plan, it's always a thing," she grinned as they continued walking.

"It's like a plan, but with more...greatness," the Doctor explained.

Evy rolled her eyes and walked over to Amy, the two girls taking the lead as she explained what the Doctor's semi-plan was.

"She's very colorful," Van Gogh remarked as he and the Doctor followed.

"Orange hair," the Doctor nodded, "Very colorful."

"No, Evy," Van Gogh corrected, "You and her…I've never seen colors like that before."

"What do you mean?" he frowned, confused.

"Everyone has a color about them. But the two of you…they swirl around you, a rainbow of brilliance, like…when I look at the stars. But when you are together, the colors bleed into each other, they blend. You both…fit. It's like you're tied together, tethered to one another."

The Doctor smiled softly, thinking of the Link, "Yeah…that's about right."

"It's really rather…I can't even describe it."

"Maybe you could paint it one day," the Doctor suggested jokingly.

"No, I could never," he shook his head, "It would be impossible to depict or copy…it just is."

~8~

Van Gogh stabbed the earth with the ends of his easel, setting it and the canvas up, sitting down, getting ready to paint, while Amy stood to his right and the Doctor and Evy on his left.

"And you'll both be sure to tell us if you see any, you know, monsters," the Doctor asked, leaning over Van Gogh, looking between him and Evy.

"For the hundredth time," Evy sighed, "Yes!"

"Yes," Van Gogh rolled his eyes, "While I may be mad, I'm not stupid."

"No, quite," the Doctor agreed, "And, to be honest..." he squatted beside Van Gogh, "Not sure about mad either. It seems to me depression is a very complex..."

"Shh…I'm working."

"Well, yes," he stood, "Paint. Do painting!"

Evy rolled her eyes and gave the Doctor a quick peck, "Hush."

~8~

Van Gogh had the top of the church outlined and was painting the sky as the Doctor spoke, "I remember when we got to watch Michelangelo painting the Sistine Chapel," he glanced at Evy, before turning back to the church, "Wow! What a whiner. I said to him, 'If you're scared of heights, you shouldn't have taken the job…'"

"Shh!" Amy hissed.

Evy laughed and walked over to the Doctor, giving him a kiss to shut him up just a bit.

~8~

There was a bit more detail on the church but Van Gogh was still working on the sky, "And Picasso," the Doctor grimaced, "What a ghastly old goat. I kept telling him, 'Concentrate, Pablo, it's one eye, either side of the face.'"

"Quiet," Amy glared at him.

Evy smiled, tugging the Doctor to her, another kiss to shut him up.

~8~

The sky was finished.

"Don't get me started on Da Vinci!" the Doctor threw his hands in the air, "I told him, 'You know that John looks a bit like a girl,' I told him that…didn't I tell him that? I did, and what did he do? Made the hair longer."

Amy just looked at Evy who sighed and grabbed the Doctor's coat, pulling him to her and kissing him once again.

~8~

Van Gogh seemed halfway done with the painting, Amy standing beside him as the Doctor lay on the ground, his head in Evy's lap as he looked at the church, utterly and completely bored out of his mind, "Is this how time normally passes?" he asked, looking at Evy, who was sitting up and looking at the sky, "Really slowly? In the right order?"

"If I did it for _five years_ Doctor, you can do it for this _one night_ ," she replied.

He sighed, stretching out, "Well…at least I get free kisses out of it."

"I always give you fre…" her eyes widened as she stared down at him, smirking up at her, "You…you prat!" she smacked him on the arm. He'd been annoying the hell out of all of them because he knew she'd kiss him to shut him up.

He rolled off her lap and got up, pulling her to her feet, and gave her a quick peck, "Better?"

She mock glared at him, "You owe me quite a few more," she grumbled.

He clapped his hands together, brushing them, "I've got to admit though, this is getting a bit old. If there's one thing I can't stand, it's an unpunctual alien attack," he walked off behind Van Gogh, stretching as he went.

"Are you ok?" Amy turned to him, "You seem a bit, if I didn't know better, I'd say nervous."

"More like anxious to be done with this," he replied, frowning, "There's something not right and I can't quite put my finger on it."

"There!" Van Gogh suddenly called. The Doctor and Amy turned, the Doctor running over to Evy's side, "He's at the window."

"Where?" he looked around.

"Just there, on the right," Evy pointed.

"Still can't see…"

"Doctor," she eyed him meaningfully, "Look."

He nodded, closing his eyes, seeing through Evy's…his own snapping open a moment later, "Oh…right…big."

"Yeah," Evy nodded.

"As I thought," he took her hand, "Come on. We're going in."

"Well, I'm coming, too," Van Gogh stepped forward.

"No!" the Doctor held up a hand to stop him, "You're Vincent Van Gogh. No."

"But you're not armed!"

"Oh I am," he smirked.

"What with?"

"Overconfidence, this…" he tapped his case, "My lovely Link who can see it, and two small screwdrivers," Evy held up her sonic, "We're absolutely sorted. Just have to find the right crosactic setting, and stun him with it. Sonic never fails."

Evy snorted, putting hers away, "Except against wood."

"Anyway," he ignored her, "Amy, only one thought, one simple instruction, don't follow us under any circumstances," he turned to Van Gogh signaling for him to keep an eye on her.

"I won't," Amy said, earning a thumbs up from the Doctor before he and Evy headed for the church.

"She's _so_ going to follow us," Evy remarked as they stepped in.

"I know," he sighed, stopping and setting down the case. He pulled out the mirror device, Evy helping him strap it on and set the controls. He smiled at her, giving her a quick peck for luck before entering the church, slowly and cautiously.

There was a low growling. They pulled out their sonics, ' _Just follow my lead,_ ' Evy replied, stepping in. They walked slowly over to the window where the creature had been before, ' _It's not here_.'

' _What?_ ' he asked, ' _What do you mean it's not there?_ ' he shifted his mirror to check as well when…

' _Doctor!_ ' Evy called and he was shoved forward. He looked up to see Evy flying to the side, struck by the Krafayis.

"Evy!" he shouted, scrambling to her side as she picked herself up, flashing the sonic as he did.

"Evy!" Amy yelled, running into the room, "Doctor!"

"I thought we told you..." he began but Evy winced, "Never mind. We'll talk about it later. Quick, in here…" he pulled her into a confessional while Amy ran into the other side.

They could hear the Krafayis moving around outside, growling.

"Absolutely quiet," he whispered.

' _Are you alright?_ ' he looked at Evy.

' _Fine,_ " she said, ' _Just a bit bruised I'd wager_.'

' _No doing that again_ ,' he scolded lightly.

' _We'll see_ ,' she smiled at him, mentally tallying her dangerous situations to his, still a ways to go.

"Can you breathe a little quieter, please?" the Doctor hissed to Amy.

"No!" she whispered back, lifting the curtain, "He's gone past."

"Shh…" Evy whispered, turning to look out and double check when…

The Krafayis growled and slammed into the wood around Amy's confessional, she screamed.

"I think he heard us," the Doctor commented.

"Really?" Evy asked sarcastically, "I hadn't noticed."

The Krafayis then struck their confessional.

"That is impressive hearing he's got," he muttered.

"Less impressive is our likelihood of survival," Evy added as another part of the confessional was torn.

Amy screamed again.

"Hey, are you looking for me sonny?" they heard Van Gogh call. They peered out of the stalls to see him brandishing a chair like a lion tamer, "Come on. Over here. Because I'm right here waiting for you," he quickly motioned for Amy, Evy, and the Doctor to get out, "Come on. Quickly! Get behind me."

They ran out of the stalls, the Doctor flashing the creature with his sonic, "Doing anything?"

"No!" Evy shouted as they backed out of the room, Van Gogh holding the chair defensively.

"Where is he?" the Doctor looked around.

"Where do you think he is, you idiot?" Vincent shouted, staring in one direction as did Evy, "Use your head."

The Krafayis walked towards them, the Doctor trying the sonic again, "Anything?"

"Nothing," Evy replied.

"In fact, he seemed to rather enjoy it," Van Gogh added.

"Right," he put the sonic back in his pocket as they moved apart.

"Duck!" Evy shouted as the creature swung at him.

"Left!" Van Gogh shouted. The Doctor moved left and the creature slammed him into a wall, Evy winced and ran to his side, "Right, sorry…" Van Gogh moved to stand in front of them defensively as Amy ran over to help Evy get him up, "Your right, my left."

"This is no good at all," he muttered, "Run like crazy and regroup?"

"Oh, come on, in here!" Amy shouted, running into another church room. They shut the door, struggling to close it as the creature tried to get through. Van Gogh spotted its leg sticking into the room and stamped his foot on it, the creature yanked its foot back and they slammed the door shut, leaning their backs against it.

"Right," the Doctor breathed heavily, "Ok. Here's the plan. Evy, Amy, Rory..."

"Who?" Amy frowned.

"Vincent," Evy cut in, elbowing the Doctor, "He meant Vincent."

"What is the plan?"

"I don't know, actually," he replied, "But in future, I'm just using this screwdriver for screwing in screws."

"Like that will _ever_ happen," Evy laughed.

"Give me a second," Van Gogh shouted, rushing off, "I'll be back."

"I suppose we could try talking to him," the Doctor suggested.

"Talking to him?" Amy asked incredulously.

"Well, yes. Might be interesting to know his side of the story."

The creature growled.

"I doubt he _really_ wants to talk right now..." Evy argued as the creature banged on the door.

"Well, no harm trying," he grinned at her before spinning to face the door, "Listen. Listen!" the growling stopped, "I know you can understand me. Even though I know you won't understand why you can understand me. I also know that no one's talked to you for a pretty long stretch, but please...listen..." he took Evy's hand, "We also don't belong on this planet. We also are alone. If you trust us, I'm sure we can come to some kind of, you know, understanding. And then...and then who knows?"

"Doctor…" Evy began, pressing her ear to the door, it was too silent for her liking, "I don't think he's there anymore."

The window behind them smashed open suddenly and the creature jumped inside, roaring and knocking things over as it moved about. Evy pushed in front of Amy and the Doctor, standing in front of them as she maneuvered them to know where the creature was.

Van Gogh ran in, brandishing his easel, tips up, as a weapon, "Over here, mate!"

"Come on," Evy called, pulling them forward to move behind him, her eyes on the creature.

"What's it up to now?" the Doctor asked.

"It's moving round the room," Van Gogh replied, "Feeling its way around."

Amy and Van Gogh hid behind a sarcophagus while the Doctor pulled Evy to hide behind a column.

"What?" he looked at Evy.

Evy peered around the column, frowning as she watched it walk along the wall, "It's acting like it's trapped, only moving around the lines of the wall. It's almost like it's...oh..." she breathed.

"Oh I am really stupid…"

"We both are. At least you can't _see_ it!"

"Oh, get a grip!" Amy called over at them, "This is not a moment to reevaluate your self-esteem."

"No, we are _really_ stupid," the Doctor turned to them, pushing Evy behind the sarcophagus as he dropped there as well, "Why does it attack, but never eat its victims? And why was it abandoned by its pack and left here to die? Why is it feeling its way helplessly around the walls of the room?"

"Because it can't see the room," Evy told them, "It's blind. That's why it has such impressive hearing."

"Which, unfortunately, also explains why it is now turning around and heading straight for us," Van Gogh called, he dashed forward, the easel held out before him.

"What's happening?" the Doctor asked, holding Evy's hand, keeping her from running out there as well.

"It's charging," Evy breathed.

"Get back!" Van Gogh jerked the easel at it, "Get back!" the creature charged and Van Gogh struck, impaling the beast on the ends of the easel. The creature bellowed in pain and anger, the easel still stuck in it with Van Gogh holding onto it, suspended above the floor.

"Let go Vincent!" she shouted.

He did, and fell to the floor, the creature collapsing a few feet away. Evy rushed forward, looking down at the creature, impaled through its chest, the only one besides Van Gogh able to see the creature's expression, the wound...

"He wasn't without mercy at all," Van Gogh breathed as Amy helped him up, "He was without sight. I didn't mean that to happen. I only meant to wound it, I never meant to..."

"He's trying to speak…" Evy frowned, kneeling down beside the creature's head, petting it lightly.

"What is it?"

"I'm having trouble making it out," the Doctor swallowed, kneeling down beside it as well, "But I think he's saying, 'I'm afraid. I'm afraid.'"

"Shh…" Evy stroked its head, "There, there. It's ok. You're alright. Shh," she bowed her head a moment later, "It's gone."

"He was frightened…and he lashed out," Van Gogh frowned, "Like humans who lash out when they're frightened. Like the villagers who scream at me. Like the children who throw stones at me."

"Sometimes winning…winning is no fun at all," the Doctor muttered, walking over to Evy, sitting beside her, hugging her to his side as they mourned the terrified creature.

~8~

They lay out in the field that night, the Doctor, Evy, Amy, and Van Gogh, just staring at the stars, their heads barely touching. Van Gogh reached out for the Doctor and Amy's hands, the two of them taking Evy's as well, creating a circle.

"Try to see what I see," he said, staring up at the stars, "We are so lucky we are still alive to see this beautiful world. Look at the sky. It's not dark and black and without character. The black is in fact deep blue," he pointed with his hand in the Doctor's at a piece of sky, "And over there, lighter blue…" he let go of Amy's hands, making a sweeping motion, "And blowing through the blueness and the blackness, the wind swirling through the air and then, shining, burning, bursting through, the stars!" slowly the stars began to blur, becoming almost like his painting 'Starry Night,' "Can you see how they roar, their light? Everywhere we look, the complex magic of nature blazes before our eyes."

"We've seen many things, my friend," the Doctor began as Evy squeezed his hand, agreeing with his thoughts, "But you're right. Nothing quite as wonderful as the things you see."

Van Gogh tightened his grip on the Doctor's hand, pulling it to his chest as he looked over at Amy, looking at her hand as he played with it absently, "I will miss you terribly."

~8~

The next morning they were set to be off, "I only wish I had something of real value to give you," Van Gogh was saying as the Doctor and Evy held one of his paintings, laughing with mirth, as Amy looked on beside them.

"Oh, no, no," the Doctor shook his head, handing the self portrait back, "We could never accept such an extraordinary gift."

"Very well," Van Gogh tried to wave off his hurt, "You are not the first to decline the offer," he held out his arms to Amy, "Amy, the blessed, the wonderful."

Amy stepped up, giving him a hug and a kiss on each cheek, "Be good to yourself and be kind to yourself."

"I'll try my best."

"And maybe give the beard a little trim before you next kiss someone," Amy added, rubbing her cheek, laughing.

"I will. I will. And if you tire of this Doctor of yours, return, and we will have children by the dozen!"

Amy grimaced a bit.

"Doctor, Evy, my friends…" he gave Evy a hug and then the Doctor, "We have fought monsters together and we have won. On my own, I fear I may not do as well."

The Doctor hugged him tightly, knowing what was coming for the brilliant painter. Evy reached out, placing a hand on his shoulder. The Doctor pulled back, taking Evy's hand as they all left the cottage, only to pause as they reached the alley leading from his house, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"I was thinking I may need some food before we leave," Amy said.

"Well, no, you're not thinking exactly what I'm thinking," he glanced at Evy who grinned.

"I'm always thinking what you're thinking," she replied.

"And?"

She smiled, "It's a stretch, it's a huge stretch…but it _should_ work."

"Brilliant!" he cried, turning to face the house, "Vincent!"

Shirtless and with a brush in his hand, Van Gogh stuck his head out the window.

"There's something we want to show you," Evy called.

"Maybe just tidy yourself up a bit first," the Doctor added.

Moments later Van Gogh came ambling out of his house, dressed, his straw hat in hand. The Doctor and Evy grinned, leading him through the alleys, back towards the TARDIS, "Now, you know we've had quite a few chats about the possibility there might be more to life than normal people imagine?" the Doctor asked, stopping short when he saw the TARDIS covered in posters and bills. He sighed.

"Yes," Van Gogh frowned, not sure what this was about.

"Well, brace yourself, Vinny," he grinned, using his key to slice a crack between the doors and open them. He stepped back, over to Evy and Amy, as Van Gogh stepped into the TARDIS, staring around in shock at the size. He poked his head out, before walking around the exterior, examining it.

He shook his head, stepping in again, "How come _I'm_ the crazy one and you three have stayed sane?" he asked as they followed him in, grinning. The Doctor took off Van Gogh's hat, tossing it to the side as they led him to the console, "What do these things all do?" he asked, looking at the controls.

"Oh, quite a lot of things," Evy told him, glancing at the Doctor.

"This one here," the Doctor turned a knob, "For instance, plays soothing music," they all started dancing, the Doctor pulling Evy into a pseudo-waltz before she pulled away with a laugh.

"Yet this one just makes a racket," she pushed a button down, causing a wheezing noise to start up.

"And this one…" he smirked at Evy and Amy, "Makes everything go tonto!"

The room started to shake.

"And this one?" Van Gogh pointed to one.

"The friction contrafibulator," Evy told him, holding on as the TARDIS powered up.

"And this?" he looked at a red and yellow thing.

"That's ketchup," the Doctor nodded, "And that one's mustard."

"Nice!" he grabbed the Doctor's shoulders for support, "Come on. Back to the café and you can tell me about all the wonders of the Universe."

"Good idea," the Doctor grinned, looking over at Evy, "Although, actually, there's a little something we'd like to show you first."

Evy pulled a lever and the TARDIS was off.

~8~

The blue phone box reappeared in Paris 2010, the last of the posted bills burning off as the doors opened, the Doctor, Amy, and Evy leading Van Gogh out.

"Where are we?" he looked around in wonder.

"Paris," Evy smiled, "2010 AD."

"And this is the mighty Musee D'Orsay, home to many of the greatest paintings in history," the Doctor motioned to the museum across the street.

"Oh, that's wonderful," he breathed.

Two boys walked by with portable electronics as Van Gogh stared at them, "Ignore that," the Doctor called, drawing his attention again, "We've got something more important to show you."

Amy linked arms with Van Gogh, pulling him along, into the museum, as Evy and the Doctor followed. Van Gogh gaped at the grandness of it all. Amy strode past the Monets and Rodins, the Doctor and Evy having to pull him away from a painting of water lilies, until they reached the Van Gogh exhibit.

Van Gogh's eyes widened as he saw all the paintings that had just hung in his home displayed as famous pieces of art.

"Dr. Black," Evy whispered to the Doctor, spotting the man.

He quickly ran over to Dr. Black, "Dr. Black, we met a few days ago. I asked you about the church at Auvers…"

Evy nodded over at Amy who brought Van Gogh closer.

"Oh, yes," Dr. Black nodded, "Glad to be of help. You were nice about my tie."

"Yes," the Doctor nodded, "And today is another cracker if I may say so. But I just wondered, between you and me, in 100 words, where do you think Van Gogh rates in the history of art?"

"Well, big question," Dr. Black breathed, thinking only a moment before saying, with very heartfelt emotion, "But, to me, Van Gogh is the finest painter of them all," Evy smiled as Van Gogh's eyes began to tear, "Certainly, the most popular, great painter of all time, the most beloved. His command of color, the most magnificent. He transformed the pain of his tormented life into ecstatic beauty. Pain is easy to portray, but to use your passion and pain to portray the ecstasy and joy and magnificence of our world, no one had ever done it before. Perhaps no one ever will again. To my mind, that strange, wild man who roamed the fields of Provence was not only the world's greatest artist, but also one of the greatest men who ever lived."

Van Gogh began to cry openly now.

Evy walked over to his side, the Doctor noticing and joining them, "Vincent," Evy put a hand on his shoulder, "We're so sorry. Was this too much for you?" she gave him a comforting side hug.

"No," he smiled, "They are tears of joy," he walked right over to Dr. Black, giving him a Gallic kiss, "Thank you, sir. Thank you," and then proceeded to hug him.

Dr. Black looked startled for a moment but patted Van Gogh on the back, "You're welcome. You're welcome."

"Sorry about the beard," he mumbled before heading back to the Doctor, Evy, and Amy.

~8~

The TARDIS materialized in an olive grove, Van Gogh stepping out first, looking around, happier than he'd ever been, "This changes _everything_ ," he called as they stepped out of the TARDIS, "I'll step out tomorrow with my easel on my back a different man. I still can't believe that one of the haystacks was in the museum. How embarrassing."

"It's been a great adventure and a great honor," the Doctor told him, shaking his hand before hugging him.

"You've turned out to be the first doctor ever to actually to make a difference to my life."

"I'm delighted," he smiled, "I won't ever forget you," he stepped back over to the TARDIS, waiting as Amy and Evy said their goodbyes as well.

"And you are sure marriage is out of the question?" Van Gogh tried once more with Amy.

"This time," she told him, hugging him as she whispered, "I'm not really the marrying kind," she kissed his cheek and stepped back over to the TARDIS as well.

"And you…" he smiled at Evy, "You said before that I wasn't the only mad one here," she nodded, "What did you mean?"

"I was in a madhouse once," she said, explaining it in the terms of the time.

"Not you," he looked at her in shock.

"Yes me. Lots of doctors trying to help me, each having a different idea about what would help, about what would make me normal, each having different ideas about what normal was, different methods of achieving it. But it never worked and it often just made it worse. Sound familiar?"

He nodded slowly, "What…what did you do? To be normal again?"

She gave him a hug, "I'm not normal," she pulled away, "Being normal is vastly overrated," she looked at him, "But if you want to know what helped?" he nodded, "I found a Doctor as mad as me."

He laughed heartily at that, "That you most certainly have."

"Vincent," she began, handing him a bit of paper and squeezing his hand, "I want you to have this…it's not very good, but it seems you've inspired me. I hope this gives you comfort in knowing that, while we may not be here in person, we will always be _with_ you. The Doctor was right, there is _always_ hope," she nodded at him, before turning and heading back to the TARDIS. The three of them waving before stepping inside.

"Come on!" he heard Amy shout, "Let's go back to the gallery right now."

And then it disappeared.

Van Gogh looked down at the paper before unfolding it. A smiled grew on his face as he looked down at the sketch of the TARDIS with the Doctor, Evy, and Amy standing there, the only color being the blue of the box and the orange of Amy's hair.

~8~

Amy rushed out of the TARDIS with a big smile on her face as she ran ahead towards the museum, "Time can be rewritten!" she yelled back to them, "I know it can. Come on!" she kept ahead of them as they made their way back to the exhibit, both of them a bit more reserved, "Oh, the long life of Vincent Van Gogh," she grinned, running up the steps, "There'll be _hundreds_ of new paintings."

"I'm not sure there will," the Doctor muttered as they followed her through the Monets, Evy squeezed his hand.

"Come on!" Amy rushed back into the Van Gogh exhibit, looking around at the same paintings that were there before.

"We have here the last work of Vincent Van Gogh, who committed suicide at only 37," Dr. Black was lecturing to a tour group. Amy closed her eyes in grief, her hope shattered, "He is now acknowledged to be one of the foremost artists of all time. If you follow me now..."

"So, you were right," she swallowed hard, "No new paintings. We didn't make a difference at all."

"Don't say that," Evy said, walking over.

"The way I see it, every life is a pile of good things and bad things," the Doctor added as Evy hugged Amy, "The good things don't always soften the bad things. But, vice versa, the bad things don't necessarily spoil the good things or make them unimportant."

"And had to have added to his pile of good things," Evy told her, pulling back, "Or should I say, a certain orange-haired Scots-girl?"

Amy laughed a bit.

"And if you look carefully..." the Doctor continued, leading them over to 'Church at Auvers,' "Maybe we _did_ indeed make a couple of little changes."

"No Krafayis," Amy noticed.

"No Krafayis," Evy agreed.

The Doctor took Evy's hand as they stared at the church, Amy walking back to the center of the room, looking at the paintings, when something caught her eye and she strode over to it with purpose. Evy nudged the Doctor, seeing Amy standing across the room, staring at a painting. They walked over to join her, looking at 'Still Life Vase with Twelve Sunflowers.'

Right above his signature was a small note, 'For Amy.'

"If we had got married, our kids would have had very, _very_ red hair," Amy commented.

"The ultimate ginger," Evy smiled.

"The ultimate ginge," Amy agreed. The Doctor laughed as Amy smiled, "Brighter than sunflowers."

~8~

Amy had taken an early night on the TARDIS, the emotional turmoil getting to her. The Doctor fiddled around the console for a few hours before he decided to look for his wayward Link whom he hadn't seen since they got to the Vortex.

He found her in their room, sitting on the floor, her back against the side of their bed with a small white pad in one hand and a pencil in the other.

"What are you doing?" he asked, walking over to her and sitting against the wall, across from her.

"Sketching."

"Sketching?" he raised an eyebrow.

"I know," she rolled her eyes, "I was surprised as well…none of my previous incarnations could even draw a stick figure properly."

"What are you drawing?" he asked, seeing the concentration in her eyes. Whatever it was was very important to her.

"Whatever's on my mind."

"Can I see?" he asked, curious now. She was being vague.

"One second…" she trailed, making a tiny adjustment, "And…done…" she handed him the pad.

He looked down at it, his eyes widening when he saw himself staring back, "It's me…" he commented, before realizing this wasn't the first page and going back to the beginning, flipping through, seeing sketches of all his previous incarnations smiling back as well, "They're _all_ of me."

"Of course they are. I told you it's whatever's on my mind."

He looked up at her to see her smiling at him and he couldn't help but smile as well, "And that's me?"

"Always."

He leaned forward and gave her a deep kiss, of thanks, gratitude, and love…she was always on his mind as well.

He pulled back just a bit, "Do you think you could sketch what's on _my_ mind?" he asked her, his thoughts drifting to all her previous incarnations. He'd only seen them in her memories when he'd Linked to her, it would be nice to have a tangible representation to look at as well.

She smiled, seeing his thoughts, and nodded, turning to a blank page and beginning her sketch of her past selves.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...I put a little line in The Time of Angels that comes about here. Anyone guess what it is? A hint, it involves Evy's new talent and River. On that note, I really wanted Vincent to have something to comfort him since none of our trio could stay. I thought it would be cute to give the artist a little drawing to remember them by. And speaking of art, I added in the bit about Da Vinci, I got the feeling the Doctor just kept rambling during this episode and I figured, why not add more artists :)
> 
> Next chapter...we've got newlywed lodgers, Evy's cooking skills, and quite the distracted Doctor...


	17. The Lodgers (Part 1)

Evy laughed as the Doctor nearly stumbled and fell as he ran to the doors of the TARDIS to look at their destination. She walked over to him as he stuck his head out.

"No," he called back, stepping out, "Amy, it's definitely not the fifth moon of Sinda Callista."

"Is that a Ryman's?" Evy commented as she stood in the doorway and leaned out, squinting down the road.

Suddenly there was a blast from inside the TARDIS, sending her flying out of the box and into the Doctor as they fell to the ground.

"Amy!" she shouted, rolling over as the Doctor helped her up.

"Amy!" he yelled as well, running back to the TARDIS but it dematerialized, leaving them stranded there.

"Amy!" Evy shouted again, but the box was gone.

"Amy..." the Doctor whispered, realizing she was now trapped in a malfunctioning TARDIS without them.

~8~

They had sat down in the little park where the TARDIS had originally landed and went over a plan of what to do. Evy had begun patting down his coat pockets and pulled out a small earpiece she had tossed in there one random day. He'd stared in shock at the little piece of technology that would act as a communicator between them and the TARDIS.

All she had said to that was 'backup plans' which made him laugh as he got a hold of Amy and explained how to settle the TARDIS down, telling her how to find the Zig Zag Plotter for whenever the TARDIS acted up again.

They had then proceeded to walk around the town, they'd passed a little paper shop with ads in the window only to see a note in red, from Amy above one in particular: One furnished room available immediately, shared kitchen, bathroom, with 27-year-old male, non smoker, 400 pounds pcm, per calendar month, suit young professional.

The Doctor had immediately torn it down and they were off, running through the town, trying to find the address. They'd stopped by a small cash machine when Evy told him that if he planned for them to be there they would need to pay rent, the Doctor flashing his sonic across it, getting it to spew out bill after bill. They managed to find the place rather quickly after assessing that it had to be within walking distance of the shop...and spotting another red written note from Amy stuck to the door of one building certainly helped.

The Doctor rang the doorbell, only for a plump man with a bit of stubble to open the door with a shout of, "I love you!"

They exchanged a glance before looking up to see that the man looked stunned as well, clearly they were _not_ who he was expecting.

"Well, that's good, 'cos we're your new lodgers," the Doctor grinned.

The man stared at them for a moment. There, on his doorstep was a man with longish hair, wearing an earpiece, dressed in a tweed coat and bow-tie…what's more, he was standing beside a beautiful blonde woman with curly hair held in a high ponytail wearing a pair of dark blue jeans tucked in knee high black boots with a yellow sort of shirt on under a black three-quarter sleeved jacket.

The Doctor glanced at the man and over to Evy before stepping forwards, "Do you know," he reached out and plucked a set of keys on a pink key ring out of the man's hands, "This is going to be easier than I expected!"

"But I only just put the advert up today," the man stared at them, "I didn't put my address."

"Well, isn't that a stroke of luck?" Evy smiled at him.

"More lucky than you know," the Doctor added, glancing up at the house before turning back to the man, "Less of a young professional, more of an ancient amateur…"

"But he really is an absolute dream," Evy linked her arm with the Doctor's.

"Aw thanks love," he gave her a quick peck on the lips.

"Are you newlyweds or something?" the man shook his head at them, they both looked so young.

Evy tensed just a bit, not sure what to say, "Are we?" she asked the Doctor.

"Yes, yes we are," the Doctor said quickly, "Let's go with that."

"Hang on," he shook his head, "I don't know if I want you staying, and give me back those keys, you can't have those!" he pulled the keys back.

"Yes, quite right," the Doctor pushed a small paper bag into his hands, "Have some rent," Evy shook her head at him, she'd told him three grand was too much, and it was by the expression on the man's face when he looked down to see a bag full of notes, "Oh, Evy was right wasn't she? That's quite a lot, isn't it? Looks like a lot. Is it a lot?"

He took Evy's hand and stepped past the man into the house, pulling her in with him as the man closed the door behind them.

The lights flickered above the stairs as Evy tensed, ' _Perception Filter_ ,' she whispered to the Doctor.

' _Looks like it,_ ' he nodded slightly, they'd both gotten quite good at detecting Perception Filters given all Evy's time wearing one and his time around one. Especially after the _Byzantium_ incident, they both always took a moment to just sense if there was something like a Filter around, ' _But what's it hiding_?'

He spun around to face the man, "Don't spend it all on sweets. Unless you like sweets. I like sweets," he twirled Evy and pulled her to him, "I like Evy too, but oh, sorry!" he stepped forward and gave the man two Gallic air kisses, "That's how we greet each other nowadays, isn't it?"

Evy didn't bother to correct him, it was highly amusing to watch.

Instead she stepped forward and shook the man's hand, "I'm Evy."

"And I'm the Doctor," the Doctor smiled, "Well, they call me the Doctor, I don't know why. I call me the Doctor too. Still don't know why."

"Craig Owens," he said slowly, "The Doctor?"

"Yep," he nodded, spinning around to look up the stairs, "Who lives upstairs?"

"Just some bloke."

"What's he look like?" Evy asked.

"Normal…he's very quiet…" there was a loud bang from above, "Usually. Sorry, who are you again?" the Doctor just tugged Evy into the flat, "Hello? Excuse me?"

They stopped by the corner of the sitting room with a large stain on the ceiling, "Ah!" the Doctor nodded, "I suppose that's...dry rot?"

"Or damp. Or mildew."

"Or none of the above," Evy finished. She glanced at the Doctor, ' _It's spreading far too fast…_ '

"I'll get someone to fix it," Craig promised.

"No, I'll fix it," the Doctor said quickly, looking back and forth between Craig and the stain, "I'm good at fixing rot. Call me the Rotmeister."

"The Rotmeister?" Evy laughed.

"Right, no, I'm the Doctor, don't call me the Rotmeister," he agreed with her, spinning around to look at the room, "This is the most beautiful parlor I have ever seen, you're obviously a man of impeccable taste," he pushed himself up onto the counter, pulling Evy to stand between his legs, her back to him, "We can stay, Craig, can't we? Say we can."

"You haven't even seen the room," he said, stunned at how odd this man was and how seemingly normal his wife was.

"The room?" the Doctor frowned, not sure what he was talking about so he looked at Evy.

"Our room," Evy told him, "The one we'll be staying in when we rent here."

"Oh, yes, our room, our room," he smiled, slipping off the counter, "Take us to our room!"

Craig just stared at him a moment before leading them down the hall to the empty, though furnished, room. They walked in as Craig stood near the doorway, "Yeah, this is Mark's old room, he owns the place, moved out about a month ago. An uncle he'd never even heard of died and left a load of money."

"Well isn't that convenient," Evy remarked, testing the bed before looking up at the Doctor, "This is just fine."

There was more noise from above.

"No time to lose," the Doctor said, turning to Craig, "We'll take it. Ah...you'll want to see our credentials…" he pulled out his psychic paper and held it up, "There...National Insurance numbers..." he moved the paper behind his back and held it up on the other side of him, "NHS numbers..." and again, "References..."

"Is that a reference from the Archbishop of Canterbury?" Craig's eyes widened as he tried to look at the paper but the Doctor pulled it away.

The Doctor grinned, "Evy's his special favorite," he put his finger to his lips as though it was a secret. He spun to face Evy a moment as she shook her head at him, "Are you hungry? I'm hungry."

He took her hand and pulled her from the room, heading towards the kitchen with Craig calling after them, "I haven't got anything in!"

The Doctor just ignored him and raided the refrigerator and cabinets, "You've got everything we need for an omelet fines herbs!" he said, getting to work cooking, "Pour tres!"

"Who's she Craig?" Evy asked, nodding to a photo of Craig and a woman on the refrigerator, even as she eyed the Doctor as he continued to cook, breaking some eggs.

"My friend," Craig answered, "Sophie."

"Your girlfriend?" Evy smiled as Craig blushed.

"Girlfriend?" he swallowed. The Doctor added some grated cheese, "A friend who is a girl. There's nothing going on."

"Ah, that's completely normal," the Doctor nodded, "Works for me," he liked girls who were just friends with him, especially since he had Evy who was most certainly not JUST a friend.

"We met at work about a year ago at the call center."

"Oh, communications exchange," Evy nodded, thinking about that particular job, she'd actually had one at a call center before, during her time on Earth.

"That could be handy," the Doctor added, glancing at Evy as he added some pepper.

"Firm's going down though," Craig sighed, "The bosses are using a totally rubbish business model. I know what they should do, I got a plan all worked out, but I'm just a phone drone, I can't go running in saying I know best. Why am I telling you this? I don't even know you."

"I've got one of those faces," the Doctor shrugged, "People never stop blurting out their plans while I'm around."

' _You wish,_ ' Evy laughed in his head as he added some meat.

"Right, where's your stuff?" Craig looked around.

"Don't worry, it'll materialize, if all goes to plan," the Doctor moved to add the broken egg shells when Evy grabbed his hands.

"Why don't you let me do this?" she asked, reaching out and turning the stove on as he had not.

He smiled and kissed her, stepping away for her to take his spot as he turned to Craig, "She's the best cook I've ever met," he told Craig, "And I've met a lot, François Massialot was so jealous of her."

"Stop it," Evy blushed.

"I mean, is jealous?" he frowned, "Would be jealous…yes, that sounds about right."

Craig just stared at them as Evy shook her head, he was so bad with tenses.

~8~

Craig fell back onto the sofa, "Oh, that was incredible!" he breathed, thinking back on the eggs he'd just eaten. He looked over at the Doctor who was sitting in a chair with Evy on his lap, she was laughing as she wiped a bit of food from the Doctor's mouth, "That was absolutely brilliant. Where did you learn to cook?"

"Paris, in the 18th century," the Doctor answered for her, giving her a quick kiss when she'd finished wiping his mouth, "No, hang on, that's not recent, is it? 17th?"

"How would 17th be more _recent_ than the 18th?" she laughed.

"Right, right, right, 20th," he corrected, "Sorry, not used to doing them in the right order."

"Has anyone ever told you that you're a bit weird?" Craig asked, eyeing the Doctor.

"All the time," Evy nodded.

"They never really stop," the Doctor agreed.

"Have you ever been to Paris, Craig?" Evy asked, her hand absently playing with the Doctor's fingers as he had his arms around her waist.

"Nah, I can't see the point of Paris," Craig sighed, "I'm not much of a traveler."

"I can tell from your sofa," the Doctor commented.

"My sofa?"

"You're starting to look like it," the Doctor clarified. Evy lightly hit him on the chest, unable to really reach behind his head to smack him from her position.

Craig just laughed, "Thanks, mate, that's lovely! No, I like it here," he absently began to rub a pink koosh ball on the key ring between his fingers, "I'd miss it, I'd miss..."

"Those keys?"

"What?" Craig looked at them sharply.

"You're sort of...fondling them."

"I'm _holding_ them," he defended, setting them on the arm of the sofa.

"Right," the Doctor nodded as Evy finished off the last of her omelet.

"Anyway..." Craig stood, walking over to a table by the door and fished out a set of keys, "These...these are your keys."

"We can stay?" the Doctor asked, getting up to meet him, Evy standing as well.

"Yeah, you're weird," he nodded at the Doctor and then looked at Evy, "And you can cook, it's good enough for me," he held each key up, explaining what they did, "Right, outdoor, front door, your door."

"Our door," the Doctor smiled, taking the keys, "Our place. Our gaff…ha ha! Yes!" he glanced at Evy, "Me with a key."

"And listen," Craig continued, a bit quieter, to the Doctor, "Mark and I, we had an arrangement where if you ever need me out of your hair, just give me a shout, ok?" he winked.

The Doctor winked back, before asking, "Why would I want that?"

Craig glanced over at Evy who was wiping her mouth on a napkin, looking as though she were trying to hide a smile, "Well, it's just, you're newlyweds right and all…"

"Yes," he nodded, "Yes, yes we are, we are newlyweds."

"Right," Craig nodded as well, "So, if you want to…you know…I'll leave you alone."

The Doctor nodded slowly, not entirely sure what Craig was talking about, but clearly Evy did as she was laughing quite loudly in his mind, "Oh, I will. I'll shout. Yes. Something like...I WAS NOT EXPECTING THIS!"

Evy just walked over to the Doctor and Craig, not able to take it anymore, "That rot…" she nodded over at it, "I wouldn't touch it if I were you Craig."

Before Craig could even ask what she meant Evy had taken the Doctor's arm and was pulling him out of the room. She led him over to the bedroom, shutting the door behind them as the Doctor collapsed on the bed, bouncing. He scooted over as Evy came and laid down beside him.

"Earth to Pond, Earth to Pond," he switched on the communicator, Evy listening on in his mind, "Come in, Pond."

"Doctor!" Amy shouted, the Doctor wincing at the feedback produced, "Oh. Sorry!"

"Could you not wreck my new earpiece, Pond?"

"How's the TARDIS?" Evy asked.

"See for yourself," Amy replied before they could hear the TARDIS whirring, not sounding good.

"Ooh, nasty," the Doctor sat up with Evy, "She's locked in a materialization loop, trying to land again but she can't."

"And whatever's stopping her is upstairs in that flat. So go upstairs and sort it!"

"We don't know what it is yet," Evy sighed as the Doctor pulled her to stand on the bed, "Anything that can stop the TARDIS from landing isn't something we should face unawares. This is big Amy."

"Scary big!" the Doctor agreed.

"Wait...are you scared?" Amy asked.

"Not in the slightest," Evy replied, "But we can't just waltz in there till we know what's in there and how to deal with it," Evy explained.

"It is vital that this 'man' upstairs doesn't realize who and what we are," the Doctor bounced on the bed, a smile on his face.

"Which means no sonicing," Evy reminded him, his smile slowly morphing into a pout, which she gave him a peck for, "And no advanced technology."

He sighed, "We can only use this…" he tapped the earpiece, "'Cos we're on scramble," he jumped to the floor as Evy laughed, "To anyone else hearing this conversation, we're talking absolute gibberish. All we've got to do is pass as ordinary human beings. Simple. What could possibly go wrong?"

"You really need to stop saying that!" Evy scolded lightly as the Doctor put on a pair of sunglasses.

"Have you _seen_ you?" Amy asked incredulously.

"So you're just going to be snide?" the Doctor asked, "No helpful hints?"

"Hmm, well, here's one...bow-tie, get rid!"

The Doctor checked himself out in the mirror, "Bow-ties are cool."

Evy laughed and walked over to him, pulling the sunglasses off, "I have to agree, they do suit you."

"Ha!" he called in triumph, "Come on, Amy, I'm a normal bloke, tell me what normal blokes do."

"They watch telly, they play football…" she listed, "They go down the pub."

"I could do those things!" he flipped through a book as Evy snorted. He looked over at her, "I don't, but I _could_!" there was a crash from above them, "Hang on. Wait, wait, wait!" Amy started to scream, "Amy!"

"Doctor look!" Evy shouted, staring at the clocks in the room as they began to spin back and forth. The Doctor looked down at his own watch as well to see the same thing, "It's a localized time loop."

"Interesting," he agreed.

"Ow!" Amy was back, "What's all that?"

"It's a time distortion," Evy said, "The TARDIS is being affected by whatever's happening upstairs."

Amy screamed again for a moment before gasping, "It's stopped...ish! How about your end?"

"Our end's good," the Doctor replied.

"So, doesn't sound great, but nothing to worry about?"

"No, no, no, not really! Just keep the Zig Zag Plotter on full, that'll protect you."

"Ah!" Amy cried out.

"Amy, I said the Zig Zag Plotter!"

"I pulled the Zig Zag Plotter!"

"Are you standing with the door behind you?" Evy asked.

"Yes!"

"Just take two steps to the right and pull it again," Evy told her calmly, a moment later Amy sighed in relief.

"Now, we must not use our sonics," the Doctor said, more to himself than Evy, "We've got work to do, need to pick up a few items," he turned off the comm. and led Evy out of the room.

~8~

They were back within the hour, a shopping cart full of odds and ends, of bits and pieces of objects they might need to build a scanner. Evy was the one to pick out and point out most of the objects, having a better idea of what would be available on Earth at that point in time and how to get it to work than the Doctor who just picked up whatever she pointed to and put it in the cart.

They brought it all back to their room, Evy petting a small cat that sat outside the front door on the way, setting it in the corner as the Doctor fell down to sit on the side of the bed, thinking, trying to figure out what was going on. Evy moved over to him and sat down beside him.

A moment later the Doctor glanced at her, "Um…could you move a bit?"

"Why?" she frowned.

"It's just…" he hesitated, "You're a little bit distracting."

"Distracting?"

"Just a bit," he told her. It might have just been the room, the coziness of it, how close she was, the darkness, whatever it was, he was more aware of her and he was having trouble keeping his mind on the problem at hand.

Evy stood up and moved around the bed to look out the window, the Doctor breathing easier. He began to think of what could possibly be upstairs that could cause a time distortion and what to do about the TARDIS when he felt the bed behind him dip. A moment later, Evy's arms wrapped around his chest from behind, pressing herself flush against him.

"Only _a bit_ distracting?" she whispered to him, moving even closer, "Well, that won't do at all."

She turned his head and gave him a deep kiss…and then proceeded to _distract_ him thoroughly…and the Doctor was imminently grateful that Craig was asleep as he couldn't, for the life of him, remember what he was supposed to shout.

~8~

Evy was almost certain that the Doctor had left his earpiece in.

That morning they had gotten up, ready and refreshed to get to work on the mystery around Craig's flat. They'd found that, after last night, the tension that had built up in the darkness had dissipated a bit, leaving them more focused. Evy had gotten up to say she was going to go get some groceries for Craig's kitchen as there had barely been enough to make the eggs the night before. The Doctor had said he was going to go take a shower to pass the time. She'd warned him to take the earpiece out before she left…but she doubted he had.

She walked back up to the flat to see the Doctor in a towel, holding an electric toothbrush, and giving Gallic air kisses to a woman she recognized as Sophie from the picture on the fridge.

"Oh hello," Evy smiled at the woman, shutting the door behind her, "You must be Sophie," she shuffled her two bags to her one arm and shook the woman's hand, "I'm Evy…" she glanced at the Doctor, "Just ignore him," she turned to him, "What did you do this time?"

"Nothing!" he insisted, following her into the flat as she walked past, entering the kitchen. She got right to work, putting away the groceries as the Doctor and Sophie entered to see Craig on the phone.

"No, Dom's in Malta, there's nobody around," Craig was saying, "Hang on a sec…" he turned to the Doctor, "We've got a match today, pub league, we're one down if you fancy it?"

"Pub league?" the Doctor frowned, confused, "A drinking competition?"

"Football you dunce!" Evy laughed fondly, "He's talking about football."

"Do you...play football?" Craig asked him slowly.

"Football," he nodded, "Football! Yes, blokes play football! I'm good at football, I think."

"You've saved my life!" Craig laughed, patting him on the cheek and going back to the phone, "I've got somebody. Alright, see you down there," he hung up and smiled as Sophie, "Hey, Soph."

The Doctor walked over to Evy who, knowing what he wanted, just held out a small carton of milk for him to take. He smiled at her and kissed her cheek in thanks before drinking it.

"Hey, I thought I'd come early and meet your new flatmates," Sophie told him.

"Do you play, Sophie?" the Doctor asked her, drinking more from the carton as Evy rolled her eyes and got back to the groceries.

"No, Soph just stands on the sidelines, she's my mascot," Craig said.

"I'm your mascot?" Sophie turned to him, " _Mascot?_ "

"Well, not my mascot, it's a football match, I can't take a date."

"I didn't say I was your date."

"Neither did I."

The Doctor looked over at Evy as they all stood there awkwardly, "You should get dressed," Evy nodded at him. The Doctor nodded, handing Craig his toothbrush and stepped into their room.

"Oh, the spare kit's just in the bottom drawer," Craig called.

"Bit of a mess," the Doctor replied, closing the door.

"What d'you think?" Craig turned to Sophie.

"You didn't say he was gorgeous!" Sophie breathed.

"Oi, he's mine!" Evy called humorously as she put the last bit of food away.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Sophie spun to face her, nearly forgetting she had been in the room.

Evy laughed and waved her off, "That's alright, we once had a friend who traveled with us, _everyone_ thought _they_ were together, it was hilarious seeing him get all flustered about it."

Sophie laughed, eyeing the beautiful woman standing in the kitchen as well. She really was very pretty, blonde hair, hazel eyes, slim…and she was living in the flat as well...with Craig...

Evy smiled reassuringly, seeing the woman's unease, "I'm his wife," she added quickly, sticking to their cover.

She could practically see the woman relax at the news as she glanced over at Craig, clearly the man had only told her he had two new flatmates and not that they were supposedly 'married.'

The Doctor popped his head out of the room, still in his towel, "You unlocked the door," he looked at Sophie, "How did you do that? Those are your keys," he nodded at the pink set in her hands, "You must have left them last time you came here."

"Yeah, but I...how do you know these are my keys?" Sophie frowned.

Craig blushed, "I've been _holding_ them!"

"I have got another set," she replied, holding up a spare set.

"You've got two sets of keys to someone else's house?" the Doctor frowned.

"Yeah."

"I see!" he smiled, "You must like it here too."

"Off you!" Evy called, ushering him into the room again, "You need to get ready!"

She shut the door behind them, turning around to see the Doctor, standing there, in his towel…and the tension was back.

"So what exactly is football?" he asked.

Evy laughed, walking over to the bottom drawer and pulling out the uniform, handing it to him. She spun around as he let the towel drop and just looked around the room for a distraction, not wanting to be tempted and knowing how shy he got about it all despite what had happened just that very night, as she explained, "Imagine a large soft cricket ball that you need to get past your opponents and into the other team's net. Only, you can't use your hands, only your feet or chest or head."

"Oh…" the Doctor said slowly, walking over to her, wrapping his arms around her, as she spun to put hers around him, "That sounds like a challenge…I like challenges."

"I know," she walked over to the bed and picking up the uniform shirt, handing it to him. He grinned, taking it from her and tapping the earpiece.

"So Evy and I are going out," he told Amy, "If we hang about the house all the time, him upstairs might get suspicious, notice us."

"He's going to try his hand in football," Evy called over as the Doctor slipped on his shirt.

"Football, ok, well done, that is normal," Amy applauded him.

"Yeah, football, all outdoorsy," he agreed, "Now, football's the one with the sticks, isn't it?" he looked at Evy, "You said sticks too right?'

"No, just chest, head, and feet," Evy shook her head.

"Maybe you ought to sit this one out," Amy suggested, "If you don't know what football is there goes the normal."

Evy laughed, "Don't worry Amy, I'll make sure he seems normal and humany."

"Humany? You wouldn't pass for normal either!"

"I'll have you know I lived on Earth for about half a decade among the humans before I got to travel with the Doctor. I adapted quite quickly thank you very much."

"Really?"

"Oh yeah," Evy nodded to herself, "I learned a lot about you all in those four years."

"I thought it was five?"

"Oh," Evy tensed, she hadn't exactly told Amy _everything_ about ending up in the Mason Institute, when it had happened, how long she had been there, it seemed Amy didn't remember it at all either. The Dream Lord incident had only happened mostly due to Amy's need to decide between the Doctor and Rory and, while she wasn't interested in the Doctor in that way any more, in Amy's memories the incident had never happened because Rory hadn't been born. She'd forgotten everything about it, about what she'd seen of Evy's own dream world, "Yeah…" she grew quiet, looking out the window, not wanting to get into that discussion again, "I…I was on my own that last year…not a lot of interaction and all."

The Doctor walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her, pressing her back against him as he just hugged her from behind, "Look, Amy, we have to head out now…we'll call you after the game," he tapped the earpiece, dropping a kiss onto Evy's neck, "You alright?"

She sighed, "Yeah," she nodded, leaning against him, "Just…it's not something I like to remember."

He nodded, burying his face in her neck, just hugging her before he started swaying side to side, calming her more. They were in their own little world, when Craig knocked on the door to see if they were ready.

~8~

They were walking to the park, the Doctor wearing his tweed coat over his uniform as he walked hand-in-hand with Evy while Craig and Sophie just walked alongside them.

"What are you actually called, what's your proper name?" Craig asked.

"Just call me the Doctor," he replied.

"Yeah," Sophie laughed, finding the title amusing.

"I can't say to these guys, 'Hey, this is my new flatmate, he's called the Doctor,'" Craig said.

"Why not?" the Doctor asked.

"'Cos it's weird," Craig replied as they came to a small group of men in light blue shirts that matched Craig's and the Doctor's.

"Alright, Craig," one of the men stepped forward, slapping Craig's hand as he stepped past, "Soph. Alright, mates."

The Doctor stepped forward, shaking the man's hand, "Hello, I'm Craig's new flatmate…" he gave him a few Gallic air kisses as well, "I'm called the Doctor…"

"Alright, Doctor," the man laughed, "I'm Sean…and who's this?" he smiled at Evy.

"I'm Evy," she nodded at them.

"Right," Sean turned back to the Doctor, "Where are you strongest?"

"Arms," he answered quickly.

Evy laughed, "He meant on the field, what position."

"Oh," the Doctor turned back to them, "Not sure. The front? The side? Below?"

Sean actually started to look a bit worried, "Are you any good though?"

The Doctor spun the ball on his fingertips, "Let's find out!" he kicked it out onto the field and ran off after it.

"Oi!" Evy called, running after him, "Give me your jacket!"

The team watched as she chased after the Doctor who evaded her like a little kid and turned to Craig.

"So who's she again?" Sean asked.

"Apparently she's his wife," Craig replied.

A few members of the team actually seemed to choke on that bit of information while another few just whistled, watching as Evy jumped onto the Doctor's back and they both fell to the ground, laughing, the Doctor shrugging off the jacket as they stood and handing it over to her to hold, giving her a little kiss in the process.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh Evy, you naughty girl. We're getting distractions all over the place aren't we? -Grins- After writing the Academic Series, I couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if the Time Lady had been there with the Time Lord.
> 
> Even though the Doctor and Evy aren't technically married (and will not be getting married in an Earth based ceremony) they act enough like it that their ruse of being newlyweds would work. And with how Craig is, I doubt he'd notice they don't have wedding rings lol.
> 
> Next chapter...what's this? The Doctor is willing to give up his travelling? What will happen to Evy when the Doctor shows Craig who they are? Which Time Lord will be selected as the new pilot?


	18. The Lodgers (Part 2)

The Doctor dominated the field. He was surprisingly good for having never played the game before. He intercepted passes, head butted quite a few goals, scoring the team a good number of points. Evy felt bad for Craig though when the entire crowd, including Sophie, began chanting 'Doctor.' The crowd went wild as the Doctor scored the winning goal of the game and ran to the field to congratulate the players. The Doctor immediately ran for Evy, spinning her around and kissing her in his excitement before he calmed and she helped him into his jacket once more. They were waved over to the team who were standing around, drinking a few celebratory beers.

"You are _so_ on the team!" Sean shouted at him, clapping him on the back as they ran over to the team, "Next week we've got the Crown and Anchor, we'll annihilate them!"

"No violence," the Doctor said, suddenly very serious, staring Sean down, "Not while I'm around, not today, not ever. I'm the Doctor, the Oncoming Storm...and you meant beat them in a football match, didn't you?"

"Yeah," Sean nodded his head, bemused and startled by the Doctor's mood change.

"Lovely, what sort of time?" he asked, all chipper and light again.

Before Sean could answer, Craig opened a can and it spilled all over him, making everyone laugh…but not the Doctor or Evy as the scene kept happening again and again, looping over and over. The Doctor took her hand and led her over a small ways away from the repeating group, "Amy?" he tapped the earpiece, "Amy?"

"It's happening again!" Amy shouted, "Worse!"

"What's the scanner say?" Evy called.

"A lot of nines. Is it good that they're nines? Tell me it's good that they're all nines!"

"Yes, yes, it's...it's good!" the Doctor answered tensely, it was so _not_ a good thing, "Zig Zag Plotter, Zig Zag Plotter, Amy," they listened intently as they heard the TARDIS jolt and Amy scream, "Amy? Are you there? Amy?"

"Yes, hello."

"Ah, thank heavens," he breathed, "I thought the TARDIS had been flung off into the Vortex with you inside it…lost forever."

"You mean that could actually happen?!"

"Ow!" the Doctor shouted as Evy smacked him upside the head.

"You have got to get me out of here!"

"What're the numbers now?" Evy asked again, glaring a bit at the Doctor for scaring Amy.

"All fives."

They breathed a bit easier, "Fives?" the Doctor looked behind them to see the loop had ended, "Even better. Still, it means the effect's almost unbelievably powerful and dangerous, but…ow!" he rubbed his head turning to glare at Evy, "Will you stop that?"

"Will you stop scaring her?" she retorted.

"Amy, don't worry," he turned back to the earpiece, "Hang on, ok? We've got some rewiring to do."

"Hey!" Amy shouted before the Doctor tapped the earpiece again, cutting her off.

"We should get back," Evy sighed, taking his hand and leading him back to the team and Sophie, she frowned, seeing the woman struggling to help clean off Craig, "Oh, here, let me help," she ran over to them, grabbing some more napkins and helping to dab at the liquid.

The Doctor walked off to the end of the team, just watching Evy help, "So tell us," Sean leaned over to him, speaking quietly, the team listening intently, "How did you land a girl like that?"

The Doctor looked back over at Evy, getting Sophie and Craig to smile at something she'd said and couldn't help but grin as well, "I got very, _very_ lucky."

~8~

The Doctor and Evy were working on the scanner in their bedroom when there was a knock on the door. The Doctor looked over at Evy who was in the middle of soldering some wires and went to get it, an orange traffic cone tucked beneath his arm.

"Hello, flatmate!" he greeted.

"Hey, man," Craig said, "Listen, Sophie's coming round tonight and I was wondering if you two could give us some space?"

' _Aw, I think Craig is finally going to tell Sophie he likes her_ ,' Evy whispered to him, '' _Bout time, that girl's probably going out of her mind waiting and wondering._ '

"Oh, don't mind us," the Doctor smiled at the idea, "You won't even know we're here…" there was another noise from above, drawing the Doctor's attention, "That's the idea."

He suddenly closed the door, leaving a stunned Craig standing there.

Evy rolled her eyes and got up, opening the door where Craig was still standing, "Give me a mo…" she told him, smiling.

He frowned, confused, as the door shut again. He listened in, hearing a banging stop, and then a smack, and then the Doctor popped out of the door, rubbing the back of his head, "Yes, we will leave you tonight," he smiled at Craig, "Bit of a trip round the town, lovely," he nodded and shut the door.

Craig could only laugh. That girl certainly knew how to handle him.

~8~

In true Doctor fashion, they had both gotten so caught up in working on the scanner that they didn't even realize Sophie had already arrived. Evy had noticed the door shut and immediately set to work getting the Doctor to leave with her. She'd tried to explain that they should sneak out and leave Craig and Sophie alone, but the Doctor thought it was rude and said they should tell them they're leaving at least.

But, instead of walking into the room or knocking to draw the attention of the hopefully-soon-to-be-couple on the sofa, the Doctor proceeded to crawl into the room amidst Craig and Sophie having a moment, only to pop up behind said sofa with a cry of, "Hello!"

"What?" Craig looked over at him, jumping a bit.

"Whoops…" he seemed to realize Evy had probably been right in wanting to sneak out, "Sorry, don't worry, we weren't listening."

"We?" Sophie asked.

"We," Evy muttered, leaning against the doorway to the room.

"I thought you were going out?" Craig looked between the two.

"That was the plan."

"Just reconnecting all the electrics, it's a real mess," the Doctor said, holding up an average screwdriver, "Where's the on switch for this?"

"They really are on their way out," Craig turned to Sophie.

"No, I don't mind, if you don't mind," Sophie looked over at Craig, she'd gotten to know Evy a little during the game and she seemed like a lovely person, she wouldn't mind getting to form a better friendship, especially if she was going to be around the flat.

"I don't mind, why would I mind?" Craig asked, obviously upset.

"Then stay, have a drink with us," Sophie smiled at the two of them.

"What, do we have to stay now?" the Doctor looked over at Evy, confused.

' _Sophie wants us to_ ,' Evy replied quietly, reading their body language, ' _She wants to get to know us more._ '

' _And Craig_?'

' _He would_ really _like time with just Sophie_.'

"Do you want to stay?" Craig asked them.

"I don't mind…" he looked over at Evy, not sure what to do, as Craig seemed to be inviting them.

She could only shrug, not wanting to get in the middle.

"Ok!" Sophie grinned.

"Great!" Craig replied with a sigh.

~8~

The Doctor was sitting on a chair, working with a mess of electrical wires draped around his neck, while Evy, for once, sat beside him, working on them as well. Sophie and Craig were sitting on the sofa, drinking glasses of wine, "'Cos life can seem pointless," Sophie was saying, "Work, weekend, work, weekend. And there's six billion people on the planet doing pretty much the same."

"Six billion people?" the Doctor muttered, "Watching you two at work, I'm starting to wonder where they all come from."

Evy almost snorted at that. It was so obvious that Sophie and Craig loved each other.

"What?" Sophie frowned, "What do you mean by that?"

"So, the call center," the Doctor switched topics, trying to cover up his words, "That's no good?"

Sophie had a bit of a reluctant look on her face.

Evy leaned forward, knowing what that look meant, "What do you _really_ want to do Sophie?"

"Don't laugh," she told them, "I only ever told Craig about it. I want to work looking after animals. Maybe abroad? I saw this orangutan sanctuary on telly."

"So why don't you?"

"She can't, you need loads of qualifications," Craig replied.

"Yeah, true," Sophie sighed, "Plus it's scary, everyone I know lives round here. Craig got offered a job in London, better money, didn't take it."

"What's wrong with staying here? I can't see the point of London."

"Well, perhaps that's you, then," the Doctor cut in, "Perhaps you'll just have to stay here, secure and a little bit miserable until the day you drop. Better than trying and failing, eh?"

"You think I'd fail?" Sophie looked taken aback.

Evy just smiled, leaning back, knowing what the Doctor was doing.

"Everybody's got dreams, Sophie, very few are going to achieve them, so why pretend?" he sipped a bit of wine, making a face before spitting it back into the glass, "Perhaps, in the whole Universe, a call center is where you should be?"

"Why are you saying that? That's horrible."

"Is it true?"

"Of course it's not true! I'm not staying in a call center all my life, I can do anything I want!" the Doctor smiled brightly, realization dawning on Sophie's face, "Oh! Yeah! Right!" she laughed and turned to Craig, "Oh, my God! Did you see what he just did?"

"No, what's happening?" Craig frowned, "Are you going to live with monkeys now?"

"It's a big old world, Sophie," Evy smiled, "Think about what's really keeping you here."

"I don't know," Sophie shrugged, "Dunno…what about you?"

Evy smiled softly, taking the Doctor's hand in her own, "The Doctor," she answered without hesitation, "But luckily, we _both_ love to travel."

The Doctor looked up at her, a soft expression on his face as he kissed the back of her hand, "I'd give up all my traveling in a heartbeat for you," he told her sincerely. Truly, there was nothing more important to him than her happiness, seeing her smile, being the one to make her smile.

She just smiled down at him and gave him a kiss, "I would never ever ask you to."

"I know," he smiled back at her, "One of the many things I love about you."

She gave him another kiss, "I love you too," she whispered, before tugging his bow-tie, "Bow-tie and all."

~8~

They finished the scanner that night. It was large and ungainly, with all sorts of bits and pieces around it, and brooms and sticks sticking out of the side of it, all built on the bed frame…at least the bed had gotten some use that first night…

The Doctor ducked out from under it as it began to spin wobbly.

"Shield's up," Evy called.

"Let's scan!" the Doctor grinned.

"What are you getting?" Amy asked over the earpiece.

"Well...upstairs," Evy replied, looking at the digital clock, "There are no traces of high technology at all."

"Totally normal," the Doctor frowned, "No no, no, no, it can't be! It's _too_ normal."

"Only for you could too normal be a problem," Amy sighed, "You said I could be lost forever. Just go upstairs."

"Without knowing, get myself killed, get Evy killed?" he looked over at Evy, unwilling to even entertain the notion, before turning back to the conversation with Amy, "Then you really are lost. If we could just get a look in there..."

"Hold on," Evy said, stopping the device, "Amy can you bring up the data bank?" she called to Amy, "Try to find the plans of this building, the history, the layout, anything and everything you can."

"Meanwhile, we shall recruit a spy," the Doctor smiled at Evy and they both snuck out of the room…that cat that they'd seen the other night…that could help a lot.

~8~

Evy was holding a tray of food as she and the Doctor walked down the hall to Craig's room for breakfast. Evy had told the Doctor how Craig was feeling a bit putout and disappointed after the match yesterday and he felt awful about it, wanting to make it up to the man. They stopped at Craig's door, the Doctor knocking on it.

"Craig!" he called, "Craig? Breakfast. It's normal. Craig?" he looked at Evy, concerned, before opening the door to see Craig lying, unmoving, on his bed, "Craig!"

They ran in, Evy setting the tray down on the bed as the Doctor rolled the man over, grabbing Craig's arm.

"I told you not to touch it!" Evy shouted, seeing a large streak running up Craig's arm.

"An unfamiliar and obviously poisonous substance," the Doctor muttered sarcastically, "'Oh, I know what would be really clever, I'll stick my hand in it!' Come on, Craig, breathe," he made a fist and brought it down hard on Craig's chest, making the man gasp, "Come on, Craig, breathe! Thems are healthy footballer's lungs!"

He looked over at Evy who nodded, getting up and taking the Doctor's place as he grabbed the teapot and ran from the room, "Come on Craig," she whispered, "Just hang on, the Doctor's going to help you, he'll reverse the enzyme decay and excite the tannin molecules so you'll be just fine," she looked up as he ran back into the room, the teapot crammed full of teabags.

He knelt by her side, tipping the pot into Craig's mouth, making him drink the substance down, "I've got to go to work," Craig rasped weakly.

"Don't you dare," Evy told him sternly, "You stay here and rest."

"One more," the Doctor tipped the pot again.

"It's the planning meeting, it's important," he argued.

" _You_ are important," Evy shot back.

"You're going to be fine, Craig," the Doctor told him.

They waited a little longer till he fell asleep and the Doctor took Evy's hand, slipping out of the room with her.

"We need to help him," the Doctor said.

Evy nodded, "Let's go find the call center."

~8~

The Time Lords were having a blast at the center. The Doctor had found Craig's plans for the company in his briefcase and presented them to the board in his stead, it was a hit. He'd also taken over for Craig at his desk, and he seemed to be a natural. The callers loved him, the boss thought he was a genius, the office members found him amusing, and Evy got to play the role of his secretary.

As he found out, this had been one of her jobs on Earth those few years, so she'd helped show him how to work the phones and the computers in a non-it's-going-to-destroy-the-world sort of way. He'd actually managed to work them _without_ destroying them which was a feat in itself and had Evy beaming at him proudly.

Evy and Sophie had also gotten a chance to bond as she was working that day as well.

"Oh, afternoon," the head of the company, Michael, greeted Craig as he ran in.

"I'm so sorry, Michael, I don't know what happened, I've got no excuse," he gasped.

The Doctor popped up from under the desk right where Michael and Craig were standing, a headset on, speaking to a customer, "I think that's not what my screen is telling me, Mr. Lang."

"What's he doing here?" Craig asked, eyes wide, staring at him, "What are you doing here? The both of you?" he demanded as Evy brought over a cup of tea.

"If that's your attitude, Mr. Lang, please take your custom elsewhere," he then proceeded to blow a raspberry into the set.

"No, no, no, that's one of my best clients!"

"Craig, are you feeling better?" Evy asked, holding out a small plate of biscuits for him to take, but he waved her off, still stunned.

"Had some time to kill, I was curious, never worked in an office," the Doctor told him, "Never worked in anywhere," he nodded at Evy, "Evy's worked before, told me how to do things, she's brilliant she is."

"You're insane!" Craig shouted.

"Leave off the Doctor, I love the Doctor," Michael told him, "And Evy's wonderful," he smiled warmly at Evy who handed him a cup of tea, "He was brilliant in the planning meeting."

"You went to the planning meeting?"

"Yes," the Doctor nodded, "I was your representative. We don't need Mr. Lang any more. Rude Mr. Lang."

Evy just rolled her eyes and set the plate of biscuits down for him, "I got some custard creams too," he grinned excitedly and picked one up to munch on.

"Hi, Craig," Sophie walked up to him, seeing him there and feeling better, "I went on the web, applied for a wildlife charity thing. They said I could always start as a volunteer straight away. Should I do it?"

"Yeah, great, yeah, good, go for it," he waved her off as well.

"You look terrible," Evy commented softly, stepping forward, "You really should get back to bed."

"Who next?" the Doctor typed on the keyboard, "Oh, yes."

"Bed," Evy nudged Craig.

He looked over at Sophie who smiled and nodded at him before walking off. He sighed and turned to go.

~8~

The Doctor and Evy laughed at a funny little joke they'd been sharing as they stepped into the flat to see a cat coming down the stairs, "Oh, you've been upstairs have you?" Evy asked, stepping forward to pick up the cat, petting it as it meowed, "Yes?"

It meowed again and she laughed, sitting down on the steps with it as the Doctor sat beside them. He reached out and pet the cat as well, "You can do it," he whispered to the animal, "Show us what's up there? What's behind that door? Try to show us…" they frowned after a moment, getting a vague look, "Oh, that doesn't make sense! Ever see anyone go up there? Lots of people? Good, good."

"What sort of people? People who never come back down. That's bad," she looked at the Doctor in concern, "That's very bad."

"Oh, hello," the Doctor looked up to see Craig step out of the flat. He slammed the door behind him, startling the cat who ran off.

"I can't take this anymore," Craig shouted, "I want you to go, the both of you!" he turned and stormed back into the flat. The Doctor looked at Evy who nodded and got to work finding the cat as the Doctor went to deal with Craig, "You can have this back and all!"

Evy could still hear them shouting, something about talking to cats and the device in the room…she shook her head at the Doctor trying to pass it off as modern art and walked back to the stairs with the cat in her arms, only to stumble and lean against the wall as a sharp pain shot through her mind.

"Bloody hell!" she winced, reeling from the rush of information that streamed past her mind's eye as the Doctor crudely passed it on to Craig, "Ow!" she rubbed her forehead with one hand, stepping forward, trying to get back to the flat when the door opened and Sophie walked in.

"Oh!" she smiled, "Hello Evy!"

"Hi Soph…IE!" she collapsed onto the stairs as a second pain shot through her.

She was going to _kill_ the Doctor when this was over.

"Evy!" Sophie shouted, rushing over to her as she dropped the cat, "Are you alright? What's wrong?"

"I'm fine," she grumbled, rubbing her head again, "I just…"

"Please can you help me?" a voice called down to them. They looked up to see a small girl hidden in the shadows, standing at the top of the stairs.

"Hi," Sophie breathed.

"Please. Will you help me?"

"What's the matter, my love?" Sophie asked, starting up the stairs.

"Sophie, don't!" Evy reached out and grabbed her arm.

"We've got to help her," Sophie shook her head, starting up again.

Evy sighed and went after her. No time like the present to see what was up there, and there was always safety in numbers, she couldn't let Sophie go alone.

~8~

"Argh!" the Doctor collapsed back on the side of the torn apart bed, "I am never, ever doing that ever, _ever_ again..." he quickly tapped his earpiece, "Amy!"

"That's Amy Pond!" Craig exclaimed.

"Oh, of course, you can understand us now, hurray," the Doctor said sarcastically, getting back to Amy, "Got those plans yet?"

"Still searching for them!" Amy called.

"We've worked it out with psychic help from a cat."

"Cat?"

"Yes, we know he's got a time engine in the flat upstairs. He's using innocent people to try and launch it. Whenever he does, they get burnt up, hence the stain..."

"From the ceiling?" Craig asked.

"Well done, Craig. And you, Miss Pond, nearly get thrown off into the Vortex."

"Lovely!" Amy breathed.

There was a loud crash from upstairs, drawing both their attention, "People are dying up there?" Craig asked, before getting caught in a loop, "People are dying. People are dying..."

"Amy!" the Doctor shouted as Amy screamed for help.

"They're being killed!" Craig snapped out of the loop.

"Someone's up there!" the Doctor realized, turning out of the room, he stepped through the flat before slamming into the wall next to the steps.

' _THETA!_ ' Evy's terrified voice screamed in his mind.

"Evy!" he ran up the stairs, not caring that he had no idea how to deal with the thing in the room, but only that his Link was in trouble and he needed to help her.

"Doctor!" Amy shouted.

"Hang on!" the Doctor shouted, trying to get the door open, "They've got Evy in there."

"Sophie too," Craig breathed, seeing her keys at the bottom of the steps.

"Doctor!" Amy shouted again, "Stop!"

"I can't!" he cried back, "They've got Evy!" he began throwing his shoulder at the door, trying to break it open.

"Are you upstairs?"

The Doctor smacked his head for being so daft and pulled out his sonic, flashing the door lock, "Just going in!"

"But you can't be upstairs. It's a one story building!"

The Doctor paused for only a moment before sonicing the door once more and shoving it open, running in with Craig. He looked around, trying to catch sight of Evy in the control room of a very advanced spaceship, but couldn't see her.

"What?" Craig breathed.

"The time engine isn't IN the flat, the time engine IS the flat!" the Doctor told him, "Someone's attempt to build a TARDIS."

"No, there's always been an upstairs."

"Has there?" the Doctor looked around, he could sense, for now, that Evy was alright, "Think about it!"

"Yes," he nodded, before hesitating, "No. I don't..."

"Perception Filter. It's more than a disguise. It tricks your memory."

Someone screamed and they turned to see Sophie being pulled towards the controls, like a panel with an orb in it.

"Sophie!" Craig shouted, running to her side with the Doctor, "Sophie! Oh, my God, Sophie!" her hands started to crackle with electricity as she was pulled towards the glowing orb, exuding light, connecting the beams to Sophie.

"Craig!" the Doctor pulled him back, "It's controlling her. It's willing her to touch the activator."

"It's not going to have her!" he tried to pull her back.

Her hand fell onto the device and she screamed as the Doctor flashed the sonic on it, "Deadlock seal!"

"You've got to do something!"

Suddenly she was released and fell back to the ground.

"What?" the Doctor frowned, "Why's it let her go?"

"Doctor!" Evy shouted as the beams shot out of another panel and began to drag her forward from another corner of the room where she'd been trying to flash her sonic across a monitor, trying to access the ship's logs.

He ran to her side as a hologram appeared, "You will help me," it said.

"Stop!" the Doctor called, struggling to help Evy keep back as she grabbed onto a beam to keep herself from moving forward, "Crashed ship, let's see. Hello, I'm Captain Troy Handsome of International Rescue."

"Captain Troy Handsome?" Evy yelled, thinking she sounded very much like Donna just then. At least she was still able to keep her sense of humor in a life threatening situation.

"Please state the nature of your emergency," the Doctor continued, ignoring her.

"The ship has crashed," the hologram replied, "The crew are dead. A pilot is required."

"It's the emergency crash program," Evy strained to get out, "It's lured people up here to try them out."

The Doctor soniced the hologram, shifting it from a little girl to a young man to an old man, "You will help me," it repeated, "You will help me, you will help me."

"Craig!" Sophie called, waking up, "Where am I?"

"Hush!" the Doctor snapped at them, focused on getting his Link out of the beams, as he turned to the hologram, "Human brains aren't strong enough, they just burn. You're stupid, aren't you? You just keep trying."

"17 people have been tried. 6,000,400,026 remain," the hologram replied, "But the correct pilot has now been found," it began to repeat itself as Evy's grip slipped on the beam, pulling her forward, both she and the Doctor trying to hold her back.

"What's happening?" Amy asked over the earpiece.

"It's pulling Evy in!" he shouted, "She's the new pilot!"

"Could she do it? Could she fly the ship safely?"

"No," Evy struggled, clenching her teeth, "The Doctor and I, we're too much for the ship. If my hand touches the panel, then the whole solar system blows up, on top of the planet," she pulled back with all her might, managing to stop her hand only inches above the orb.

"The correct pilot has been found," the hologram repeated.

"No...worst choice ever, I promise you," the Doctor called back, helpless to help his Link, "Stop this!"

"Doctor!" Amy shouted, "It's getting worse!"

"It doesn't want everyone," Evy strained, "Craig, it didn't want you!"

"I spoke to him and he said I couldn't help him!" Craig replied.

"It didn't want Sophie before but now it does," the Doctor realized what Evy had, "I gave her the idea of _leaving_! It's a machine that needs to leave, it wants people who want to escape! And you don't want to leave, Craig, you're Mr. Sofa Man."

"Doctor!" Amy screamed.

"Craig, you can shut down the engine. Put your hand on the panel and concentrate on why you want to stay!"

"Craig no!" Sophie gasped.

"Will it work?" Craig asked.

"Yes!" the Doctor shouted.

"It hurts," Evy whimpered.

"Are you sure?" Craig asked again.

"Yes!" he repeated.

"Is that a lie?"

"My Link is in danger," he snapped, "Of course, it's a lie!"

Craig blinked and looked at Evy, realization in his eyes as the Doctor's memories told him _exactly_ who Evy was to the man, and he needed Craig to save Evy, just like he'd needed the Doctor to save Sophie.

"Good enough for me," he turned to the panel, "Geronimo!" he slammed his hand down on it, screaming as the energy coursed through him, the ship releasing Evy, sending her falling back into the Doctor's arms.

"Craig!" Sophie shouted.

The Doctor set Evy down, awake but shaken, leaning her against a beam as he ran to Craig, "What's keeping you here?" he asked the man, "Think about everything that makes you want to stay here! Why don't you want to leave?" he slapped him.

"Sophie!" Craig closed his eyes in concentration, "And I don't want to leave Sophie! I can't leave Sophie! I love Sophie!"

"I love you too, Craig you idiot!" Sophie stepped forward and slapped her hand down as well, causing the ship to smoke and spark.

"Honestly, do you mean that?" Craig turned to Sophie.

"Of course I mean it! Do you mean it?"

"I've always meant it. Seriously though, do you mean it?"

"Yes."

"But what about the monkeys?"

"Oh, not now, not again!" the Doctor called, back at Evy's side, "Craig, the planet's about to burn!"

"For God's sake, kiss the girl!" Evy shouted.

Craig and Sophie kissed, their hands sliding from the panel

"Doctor!" Amy gasped, "You've done it. Ah ha, you and Evy have done it! Oh, now the screen's just zeros! Now it's minus ones, minus twos, minus threes...big yes!"

The hologram started to cycle through its different voices and projections, overloading, "Help me. Help me. Help me. Help me."

"Big no!" the Doctor shook his head, helping Evy up.

"Help me. Help me. Help me. Help me. Help me. Help me. Help me. Help me."

"Did we switch it off?" Craig looked over.

"Emergency shutdown," Evy hung on the Doctor for support, still shaking to badly to really move, "It's imploding!"

"Everybody out, out, out!" the Doctor shouted, helping Evy out of the room as he led the way. They made it down the stairs and out of the house as it began to shake, turning back to see the Perception Filter dissipate to reveal the ship seconds before it disappeared.

The people strolling by the house didn't bother to look up, not noticing what had happened.

"Look at them," Craig breathed, "Didn't they see that? The whole top floor just vanished."

"Perception Filter," Evy laughed a bit, "Means there never was a top floor."

The Doctor let out a breath of relief and pulled Evy to him, holding her tightly, holding her close, happy they'd survived, that she was alright. She smield into the hug, nuzzling her head into his chest as she closed her eyes.

~8~

The stain on the ceiling had disappeared, which meant it was time for the Doctor and Evy to take their leave. They walked through the hallway, ready to say goodbye to Craig and Sophie, when they saw just the couple they were looking for…otherwise occupied.

Evy smiled softly as she saw the couple kissing on the sofa, feeling the Doctor put his arm around her as they walked over to the door, leaving the keys on the table and heading out…

"Oi!" Craig called.

They turned around to see Craig and Sophie walking over to them, "What, you're trying to sneak off?" Sophie asked.

"Yes, well, you were sort of..." the Doctor trailed.

"Busy," Evy laughed.

Craig picked up their set of keys and held them up to the Doctor, "I want you to keep these. Thank you."

"Thank you," the Doctor smiled and took the keys, "'Cos we might pop back soon, have another little stay."

"No, you won't," Craig shook his head softly, "I've been in your head, remember? But I still want you to keep them."

"Thank you Craig," Evy stepped forward and hugged the two of them, "You as well Sophie."

"Thank you," he replied, wrapping his arm around Sophie.

"Now then, 6,000,400,026 people in the world," the Doctor morriored him, wrapping his arm around Evy's waist, "That's the number to beat."

Sophie laughed, "Yeah."

He winked at them before turning to walk out of the flat with Evy. They didn't have far to walk, as soon as the TARDIS could land safely, it had locked in on the Doctor's location and appeared across the street. They ran over to it, quickly getting in. Evy ran to the console and began to prepare to head back in time so Amy could leave them that note in the shop and on the house.

"Back in time!" the Doctor laughed, telling Amy the plan, "You need to go to the paper shop, leave that note for us."

"Right little matchmakers, aren't you?" Amy smirked at them, "Can't you two find me a fella?"

Evy stiffened at the words as the Doctor just put his stethoscope on the console and listened, "Oh, rectifier's playing up again..." he muttered.

"We've got to get Mark out of the apartment," Evy realized as the Doctor looked up, nodding.

They both turned and went to a different section of the room to get to work on that, "You write the note," the Doctor called back to Amy, "And we'll change that will."

"You got a pen?" Amy asked.

"Check his coat pocket!" Evy told her, "Be sure it's red!"

Neither of them noticed Amy pulling out her engagement ring from Rory out of the Doctor's coat pocket instead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My thoughts on why the ship chose Evy, she was up there first. And, she's been a bit of a mechanic with the TARDIS and other devices, fixing things, perhaps the ship picked up on that. It DID need someone to fix it.
> 
> Lol, poor Doctor, he's gotten whacked more often in this chapter than any other I think. I really love it when Evy does that, it's like River said, couldn't you just slap him sometimes?
> 
> Next chapter...the Pandorica is even more like Pandora's Box than originally thought. The Doctor explains Evy's name and what the Link means in universal terms to Amy. We learn more about what Amy was like when she couldn't remember Rory.


	19. The Pandorica Opens

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies this wasn't up yesterday. I received a notification that 5 of my Merlin stories had been posted by someone on wattpad without my permission or knowledge :/ So now I'm up to 34 times my work has been stolen and posted by others :/ I was dealing with that most of the time I would have spent getting this chapter up. If you want more info on this recent (still ongoing) plagiarism, it's on my tumblr :(

River, dressed all in black in an outfit quite a bit like Evy's, though with a utility belt and without a coat, crept through the Royal Collection, looking for a painting Winston Churchill had told her about. She had to be quick, her transport was waiting. Finding it, she quickly ripped it down and headed back the way she came, getting halfway up the stairs when the lights turned on and the Queen appeared before her, a gun aimed at her, "This is the Royal Collection and I'm the bloody Queen," Liz 10 said, "What are you doing here?"

"It's about the Doctor and Evy, Ma'am," River held up her hands, the painting still in her grasp and thinking she really needed to get her hands on a Vortex Manipulator quite quickly to avoid this sort of situation, "You met them once, didn't you? I know they came here."

Liz lowered her gun, "The Doctor and Evy?"

"They're in trouble. I need to find them."

"Then why are you stealing a painting?"

"Look at it…" she handed it over, "I need to find the Doctor and Evy, and I need to show them this."

Liz looked down at the painting and then over at River in astonishment.

~8~

Amy was sitting under the console in the Doctor's harness, looking at the engagement ring she'd found in the Doctor's pocket nearly a month ago. She'd kept it with her and found herself looking at it from time to time. She knew she should give it back, but every time she tried, something just stopped her. She took the ring out, fiddling it around in her fingers before slowly starting to slip it on her ring finger when…

"Vavoom!" the Doctor shouted, leaning over the floor of the console to poke his head down at her.

She jumped, her hand closing around the ring, hiding the box behind her, "Va-what?"

The Doctor laughed as he pulled himself back on the console. Amy put the ring back and shoved the box in her pocket before jogging up to see Evy shaking her head as she and the Doctor flicked a few switches on the console.

"I can't believe we've never thought of this before, it's genius," the Doctor cried, walking over to Evy and kissing her, "Brilliant idea!"

Evy just smiled, pulling a lever and the small shaking of the TARDIS stopped, "And now we've landed...come on," she took the Doctor's hand and headed for the doors.

"Where are we?" Amy asked as she followed along.

"Planet One. The oldest planet in the Universe."

The Doctor spun around at the doors to face Amy, "There's a cliff of pure diamond and, according to legend, on the cliff there's writing, letters 50 feet high, a message from the dawn of time, and no one knows what it says, 'cos no one's ever translated it. Till today."

"What happens today?" Amy frowned.

"Us," the Doctor grinned.

"The TARDIS translation circuits will translate anything except Gallifreyan," Evy told her, before pausing in thought, "Except Judoon as they're very threatening, no need to scare people," she laughed, thinking of the 'intergalactic thugs,' the last thing a human needed to hear was their less than calming demands, "So, in theory, all we need to do is land here and go outside. We'll be able to read the first ever words in all of recorded history."

The Doctor threw open the doors and pulled Evy outside as they all ran out, onto a tropical planet where rather large mushrooms were growing. They looked up at the cliff face, Evy bursting out laughing as the Doctor shook his head.

There, on the cliff face, in large letters, with a few coordinates written beneath it, were the words: Hello Sweetie!

Amy laughed as well at the look on the Doctor's face, "Vavoom!"

Evy pulled him back into the TARDIS, "Come on, let's go find River…" she pulled him up to the console and began putting in the coordinates, "It must be important if she graffitied that."

The Doctor sighed, even he had to agree, and got to work helping her.

~8~

The TARDIS materialized at the edge of a forest on a hill, the Doctor, Evy, and Amy stepping out, "Right place?" Amy asked.

Evy nodded, "The exact coordinates from Planet One."

"Earth," the Doctor stated, "Britain…" he checked his watch, "1:02am. No, pm…"

"A.D.," Evy corrected, stopping at the sight before them.

The hill overlooked a plane filled with a large Roman encampment.

"That's a Roman Legion," Amy's eyes widened.

"Well, yeah," the Doctor shrugged, "The Romans invaded Britain several times during this period."

"Oh, I know," Amy grinned, nodding, "My favorite topic at school. 'Invasion of the Hot Italians,'" they looked at her, "Yeah, I did get marked down for the title."

Just then a breathless Roman soldier ran up to them, kneeling down with his fist to his chest, "Hail, Caesar!"

"…hi?" the Doctor waved a bit. Evy had to bite her lip to keep from laughing.

"Welcome to Britain. We are honored by your presence."

"Well, you're only human," the Doctor began slowly, confused, "Arise...Roman person."

"Why does he think you're Caesar?" Amy whispered, leaning over.

The soldier stood, revealing a smudge of lipstick on his face, "Cleopatra will see you now."

They started walking, Evy leaning over to speak quietly with Amy, "Did you see the smudge on his face?" Amy nodded, "Hallucinogenic lipstick, makes whoever's kissed believe what the wearer of the lipstick wants."

"Oh…" Amy nodded, both of them smirking as the soldier continued to honor Caesar while they walked, the Doctor looking more uncomfortable as they went.

~8~

The Doctor grabbed Evy's hand, half pulling her into a tent along with Amy to escape the rabid soldier who seemed just a bit too Caesar obsessed for the Doctor's comfort. He looked up to see River, dressed as Cleopatra, being waited on by two servants, grinning as she saw them, "Hello, sweetie."

"River!" Amy smiled, "Hi."

River got up and gave Evy a little hug when the Doctor frowned at her, "You graffitied the oldest cliff face in the Universe," he mock scolded.

"You wouldn't answer the phone," she countered. She clapped her hands and the servant left as she walked back to where she'd been sitting, reaching to the side to take something, and held up a scroll of canvas.

"What's that?" Evy frowned, eyeing it.

"It's a painting. Your friend Vincent," River told them as the Doctor snatched it out of her hand and began to unroll it on the table beside him, Evy next to him, "One of his final works. He had visions, didn't he? I thought you ought to know about this one."

Evy let out a small shudder, her eyes widening at the painting laid before them.

"Evy?" Amy frowned, walking over to look, "Doctor, what is this?" she nearly gasped, seeing the paining of the TARDIS exploding, "Why's it exploding?"

"I assume it's some kind of warning," River commented.

The Doctor backed away slowly, sitting down on a chair, his thoughts heavy. He reached out a hand to Evy who walked over to him without a thought and sat on his lap, the two of them taking silent comfort in each other.

"Something's going to happen to the TARDIS?" Amy asked.

"It might not be that literal," River argued, "Anyway this is where he wanted you. Date and map reference on the door sign, see?" she pointed to a scribbling on the TARDIS door in the painting, their coordinates and date.

"What's it called?" Evy asked.

"The Pandorica Opens."

"The Pandorica?" Amy shook her head, confused, "What is it?"

"A box. A cage. A prison. It was built to contain the most feared thing in all the Universe."

Evy got up and walked over to a small pile of maps as the Doctor began to pace the room, "And it's a fairytale, a legend," he said, "It _can't_ be real."

"If it is real, it's here and it's opening. And it's got something to do with the TARDIS exploding," she watched as Evy placed a map on the table, glancing over at Van Gogh's painting before examining the map, "Hidden, obviously. Buried for centuries…" she eyed Evy, "You won't find it on a map."

"Probably not…" Evy remarked, glancing up, "But if I buried anything _that_ dangerous, I'd sure as hell want to be able to find it again."

~8~

They rode across the land on three horses. The Doctor and Evy on one, Amy on another, and River on the last, following the map Evy had brought to one of the most famous locations in the history of Earth…Stonehenge.

They hopped off the horses as soon as they reached the structure, Evy and the Doctor immediately walking around to various stones, using their sonics on them while River took out a scanner and typed in some information.

"How come it's not new?" Amy asked, looking at a stone near her.

"Because it's already old," River explained, "Been here thousands of years. No one knows exactly how long," she looked up at the sky.

"Ok, this Pandorica thing…last time we saw you, you warned us about it, after we climbed out of the _Byzantium_."

"Spoilers!" River smirked, putting a finger to her lips.

"No, but you told the Doctor and Evy you'd see them again when the Pandorica opens."

"Maybe I did" River shrugged, walking past her, "But I haven't yet. But I will have. Doctor, Evy, I'm picking up fry particles everywhere. Energy weapons discharged on this site."

The Doctor stood up, stepping on a large stone in the middle of the circle, "If the Pandorica is here, it contains the mightiest warrior in history. Now half the galaxy would want a piece of that."

"They would definitely fight over it," Evy agreed, holding out a hand as he jumped off the stone, kneeling down as he rested his ear to it.

"We need to get down there."

~8~

That night River placed a device on the corner of the stone the Doctor and Evy had examined earlier, light from the standing lights they'd placed around the area casting a shadow around them. River sighed, straightening up and walking over to the Doctor, Evy, and Amy, "Right then. Ready?"

Evy took a breath as the Doctor gently reached out and grabbed her hand, holding it, as River pushed a button on her scanner. The rock slid to the side to reveal stone steps underneath it. The Doctor and Evy took a step forward, peering down as River stepped up with a light.

"The underhenge," the Doctor muttered. He glanced at Evy who nodded, the two of them pulling out their sonics, using it as a torch as they led the way down the stairs to a small room. Evy walked over to an actual torch, flashing her sonic to light it as River went to grab another from the opposite wall. Evy held out the torch, lighting River's as the Doctor walked over to a large board, locking a huge set of doors. He glanced over at them all, before pushing the block up. Evy stepped up beside him, grabbing the handle of the left door while he took the right, both nodding to the other, before pushing it open. There was a rather large cavernous room on the other side, a large box with an intricate circular pattern on every side sitting in the center.

"The Pandorica," Evy breathed, putting her torch in a sconce before they walked towards it.

"More than just a fairytale," River said.

The Doctor stopped suddenly as he stepped on something. He looked down to see the arm of a Cyberman lying there. He glanced at Evy who looked at him from beside the Pandorica, examining the patterns. He walked over to her, placing a hand on it as she lightly traced a pattern with her finger.

"There was a goblin, or a trickster, or a warrior," he explained to Amy and River, "A nameless, terrible thing, soaked in the blood of a billion galaxies. The most feared being in all the cosmos. And nothing could stop it, or hold it, or reason with it. One day it would just drop out of the sky and tear down your world."

"How did it end up in there?" Amy asked, watching them.

"Oh, as always in fairytales," Evy commented, grinning at the Doctor, "A good wizard tricked it."

He smirked at her, walking around the other side of the box as River handed Amy her torch and took out her scanner, "I hate good wizards in fairytales," she muttered, dropping her bag next to the Pandorica, "They always turn out to be him. Just like the fairy godmothers are always her."

Amy looked around at the cavern, "So it's kind of like Pandora's Box, then? Almost the same name."

"Sorry, what?" the Doctor peeked his head around from behind the box.

"The story. Pandora's Box, with all the worst things in the world in it."

"But there was also hope in there as well," Evy reminded her as the Doctor started to scan the Pandorica with his sonic.

"Oh I know. That was my favorite book when I was a kid," the Doctor suddenly stopped and walked over to her, concern on his face, "What's wrong?"

"Your favorite school topic, your favorite story," he muttered, eyeing her, before pacing, "Never ignore a coincidence, unless you're busy. In which case, always ignore a coincidence," he walked back over to Evy, helping her sonic it.

"So can you open it?" River asked them.

"Easily," Evy replied, "It's easy enough to break INTO a prison, but I think we'd both rather know what's trying to break OUT first."

River looked down at her scanner as it beeped, her eyes wide, "It's already opening. There are layers and layers of security protocols in there, and they're being disabled, one by one. Like it's being unlocked from the inside."

"How long do we have?" the Doctor asked her, serious.

"Hours at the most."

"What security protocols exactly?" Evy frowned.

"Everything," River looked at the scanner, "Deadlocks, time-stops, matter-lines..."

"What could _need_ all that?" the Doctor asked.

"What could get _past_ all that?"

A moment later they both looked over at Evy.

"What?" she asked, "Not even _I_ could do that…it's impossible."

The Doctor sighed, looking back at the box, "Think of the fear that went into making this box."

"What could _inspire_ that much fear?"

The Doctor leaned in, resting his forehead against the side of the box, "Hello, you. Have we met?"

"So why would it start to open now?" River asked.

"No idea," Evy shrugged.

"Hmm, and how could Vincent have known about it?" Amy asked, looking around, "He won't even be born for centuries."

The Doctor and Evy looked at each other before running to opposite ends of the room and scanning the stone pillars situated around the box, "The stones!" he shouted, sonicing them, "These stones are great big transmitters, broadcasting a warning to everyone, everywhere, to every time zone. The Pandorica is opening!"

"Doctor...everyone, everywhere?" River asked, stiffening.

"It even reached Vincent in his dreams," Evy agreed, "But what could possibly be in there that would justify all this?"

"Evy, everyone?" River tried her as well

"Anything that powerful, we'd know about it," the Doctor met Evy at the last pillar, "Why don't we know?"

"You said everyone could hear it!" River strode up to them, "So who else is coming?"

"Oh…"

"Oh?" Amy frowned, "Oh, what?"

River pressed her scanner against a pillar, "Ok, if it is basically a transmitter, we should be able to fold back the signal."

"On it!" Evy shouted, running to the pillars, sonicing them.

"On what?" Amy shook her head.

"Stonehenge is transmitting, it's been transmitting for a while...so who heard?" River asked.

"Ok, should feed back any moment," Evy called, "River, what's out there? Are you getting anything?"

"Give me a moment…"

The Doctor shook his head, snapping out of his thoughts as Evy walked back over, "River, quickly, anything?"

River's eyes widened, "Around this planet, there are at least 10,000 starships…"

"At least?" Amy gaped.

"10,000, 100,000, 1 million, I don't know," she shook her head, "There's too many readings."

"What sort of starships?" Evy asked, feeling like she very much didn't want to know.

River pushed a button and a Dalek transmission echoed through the room, fed back by the pillars, "Maintaining orbit."

The Doctor took Evy's hand as they listened.

"I obey," another Dalek answered, "Shield cover compromised on ion sectors."

"Daleks," Amy blinked, "Those are Daleks."

"Scan detects no temporal activity," the first Dalek continued.

"Soft grid scan commencing," the second Dalek added.

"Reverse thrust for compensatory stabilization."

"Daleks," River turned to them, "Doctor…Evy…"

"Launch preliminary armaments protocol."

The Doctor shook his head, letting go of Evy's hand as he started to pace, the girls watching, "Yes, ok. Ok, ok, ok. Dalek fleet. Minimum, 12,000 battleships, armed to the teeth. But we've got surprise on our side! They'll never expect four people to attack 12,000 Dalek battleships!"

"Because we'd be killed instantly," Evy reminded him, causing him to pause in his pacing, "So it would be a fairly short surprise."

"Right…" he nodded, walking over to them again, "Forget surprise."

"Doctor, Evy, CyberShips!" River called.

"No, Dalek ships, listen to them, those are Dalek ships."

"Yes. Dalek ships AND CyberShips."

Evy shook her head in thought, "What if we start a fight between them? We could turn them on each other."

"Could work," the Doctor agreed, "It's the _Daleks_...they're SO cross..."

"Sontaran," River added, "Four battle-fleets."

"Sontarans?" Evy turned to face her, the pit in her stomach growing.

"Talk about cross, who stole all their handbags?" the Doctor tried to laugh.

"Terileptil," River continued, "Slitheen. Chelonian. Nestene…" the Doctor took Evy's hand, gripping it tightly as they both started stumbling back in sheer shock towards the box, "Drahvin. Sycorax. Haemo-goth. Zygon. Atraxi. Draconian. They're all here. For the Pandorica!"

Evy looked over at the box behind them, "What _are_ you?"

The ground suddenly began to shake.

Evy and the Doctor ran to the stairs, River and Amy following. They ran up and out into Stonehenge to see lights filling the sky from hundreds of ships, flying around above them…the armies descending.

"What do we do?" Amy breathed.

River stepped around them, coming to stand before Evy and the Doctor who were still staring up at the sky, "Doctor, Evy, listen to me! Everything that ever hated either of you is coming here tonight. You can't win this. You can't even fight it. Doctor, Evy, this once, just this one time, please, you have to run."

"Run where?" Evy shook her head at River, still looking up.

"Fight how?"

The Doctor pulled out binoculars from his pocket and looked back the way they came, "The greatest military machine in the history of the Universe."

"What is?" Amy asked, "The Daleks?"

"No, no, no," he turned back, smiling, "The Romans!"

River looked at him stonily before sighing and heading back to her horse, knowing it was impossible to argue with him. In her future, she barely ever managed to win an argument against him. The only one she'd seen do that was Evy and not even she wasn't arguing this time…dealing with the Pandorica was far too important to the both of them.

With one last look she took off into the night, heading back to the encampment.

Evy looked back at the Doctor and Amy, "I'll keep watch out here," she told them, "I know you're absolutely riveted to examine that box more, so go on," she gave him a soft smile. He took her hand, squeezing it in thanks before heading down with Amy.

Evy let out a deep breath her eyes on the sky as she sat on a stone near the stairway.

~8~

Amy walked around the cavernous room, lighting more torches as the Doctor continued to examine the Pandorica, "So what's this got to do with the TARDIS?"

"Nothing, as far as we know," the Doctor answered.

"But Vincent's painting...the TARDIS was exploding, is that going to happen?"

"One problem at a time. There's force field technology inside this box. If I can enhance the signal, I could extend it all over Stonehenge. Could buy us half an hour."

"What good is half an hour?"

"There are fruit flies live on Hoppledom 6 that live for 20 minutes and they don't even mate for life," the Doctor began before pausing, looking up at her a moment, "There was going to be a point to that. I'll get back to you."

Amy put her hands in her pocket, feeling the ring box there. She looked over at the stairs that led to Evy before turning back to the Doctor, "You should propose now."

"I'm sorry?" he looked up, utterly confused as to what she was talking about.

"To Evy. You should propose now what with imminent destruction looming on the horizon."

"What?"

Amy rolled her eyes, "You should propose to Evy!"

"I don't have to," he said slowly, still trying to work out why she was saying that.

Amy sighed, "She's not a mind reader you know!" but then paused, "Ok, well, maybe she _can_ read minds but…"

"No, no, no," he shook his head, "Amy I don't have to propose to her, we're already married."

"What?" Amy gaped, how had she missed _that_ fact?

He laughed at her expression, "The Link. On Gallifery, there are a few different versions of it. But...not many people who aren't romantically Linked are as close, they don't spend as much time together, travel together. That's the only version of the Link that other species have come in contact with, it's basically their equivalent of marriage. As soon as I Linked to her we were universally recognized as married I suppose you could say."

"So…why does she introduce herself as Evy Daniels…" her eyes widened, "Is your last name Daniels?!"

"No," he shook his head, amused.

She frowned, "Then why..."

"It was a name she picked on Gallifrey when she was 50 years old," he explained, smiling, "Evelyn, means 'beautiful bird' here on Earth. When she was here those couple of years, she had to have a last name to fit in, so she picked Daniels," he blinked, straightening up, "Why did you think I was planning to propose to her?"

Amy blushed, embarrassed, before pulling the ring box from her pocket, "I found this in your pocket."

His eyes widened as he saw the box in her hands, "No. No, no, that's, uh...a memory. A friend of ours…uh, mine and Evy, someone we lost…" he reached out for the box, but Amy pulled away, "Do you mind?"

"It's weird," she frowned, looking at the box intently, "I feel...I don't know. Something."

' _She still remembers him_ ,' Evy breathed in his mind, smiling softly to herself. There was hope!

The Doctor eyed Amy carefully, he'd have to word this right so as not to startle her, "People fall out of the world sometimes, but they always leave traces. Little things we can't quite account for. Faces in photographs, luggage, half eaten meals...rings...nothing is ever forgotten, not completely. And if something can be remembered, it can come back."

Amy snapped the box closed and handed it over, "So, was she nice, your friend?"

The Doctor frowned, he could feel Evy's hearts breaking for Amy. He put the ring in his pocket and walked over to the Pandorica…

' _That crack in her wall must have impacted her more than we thought_ ,' Evy commented, ' _If she was able to remember someone who never existed, even if it's a vague feeling…_ '

He pausing a moment at Evy's words to look back at Amy, "Remember that night you flew away with us?"

"Of course I do," Amy smiled.

"And you asked us why we were taking you and we told you there wasn't a reason. We were lying."

"What, so you did have a reason?" Amy frowned.

"Your house."

"My house?"

"It was too big, too many empty rooms. Does it ever bother you, Amy, that your life doesn't make any sense?"

Just then a laser flew past them. Amy screamed and they ran to hide behind the Pandorica.

' _Doctor!_ ' Evy shouted in his mind, ' _What's going on?_ '

' _No idea, but we're fine_. _Stay there! We're heading out_!'

"Ok, what was that?" Amy asked.

"Need a proper look," he breathed, "Got to draw its fire, give it a target."

"How?"

"You know how sometimes Evy has really brilliant ideas?"

"Yes…" she said slowly.

"This is what happens when she's not here," he said, before dashing out into the open, throwing his arms out, "Look at me, I'm a target!"

The laser fired again and the Doctor ducked behind a pillar across from Amy, he winced, his face scrunching in pain.

"What happened?" Amy's eyes widened in concern, "Are you alright?"

"Evy is _not_ happy right now…" he mumbled. Evy was, in fact, _very_ angry and shouting at him…and he thought he was in trouble before…

"What is that?" Amy asked, glancing back at where a laser was still firing.

"CyberArm. Arm of a Cyberman."

"And what's a Cyberman?"

"Oh, sort of part man, part robot," the Doctor waved her off, "The organic part must have died off years ago, now the robot part is looking for fresh meat."

"What, us?"

"It's just like being an organ donor, except you're alive and sort of screaming," he began, before wincing as Evy mentally smacked him in the head…he didn't even know it was possible to _do_ that, "I need to get round behind it, could you draw its fire?"

"Like you did?" she asked incredulously.

"You'll be fine if you're quick, it's only got one arm," he encouraged, "Literally," he smiled and gave her two thumbs up. Amy gave him a nervous thumbs up as well before grimacing and running, screaming, around the box in the opposite direction. The arm fired at her and the Doctor dove for it, grabbing it and flashing it with his screwdriver, shutting it down, "Doctor?"

"Scrambled its circuits, but stay where you are," he called, "It could be bluffing."

' _Be careful_!' Evy warned him. He winced, one wrong move and she would be racing down the stairs to help…and if the laser got her…

"Bluffing?" Amy exclaimed, "It's an arm!"

"I said stay where you are!" he shouted, getting up.

Amy stepped back and crossed her arms, when suddenly she felt something touch her leg. She looked down to see a wire wrapped around her boots, "Doctor?" she screamed as she fell backwards, pulled by the wires.

"Amy!" he yelled when the CyberArm released a large dose of electricity, shocking him. He fell to the ground, unconscious.

"Doctor!"

~8~

At the top of the stairs Evy collapsed to the ground, in pain, as she felt the Doctor fall. This was even worse than when he was struck by lightning in 1929! She bit her lip as she felt her body scream out, trying to remain conscious…

She could hear Amy shouting from below, calling for her and the Doctor but she couldn't move much without getting spasms of pain when she heard it, echoing up to her…

"You will be assimilated!"

Her eyes widened and she grabbed a rock near her, trying to heave herself to her feet. If a live Cyberman was down there…Amy would be finished…

"Yeah?" Amy shouted, "You and whose body?"

She could hear heavy footsteps as she managed to stand, only to fall to her knees as she reached the steps.

Suddenly there were sounds of hoof beats. She looked over to see a dozen or so Roman soldiers riding ahead of a larger group. One soldier jumped off his horse and ran towards the henge, two soldiers following behind him. Evy's eyes widened as she gasped when the soldier stepped into the light.

"Rory?" she exclaimed.

"Evy!" Rory ran over to her side, helping her up, "Where's Amy and the Doctor?"

"Down there," she nodded at the steps, "They were attacked by a Cyberman."

Rory nodded, passing her over to another soldier, "Help her down," he turned, pulling out his sword, and rushed down the steps.

"Be careful!" she shouted after him as the second soldier helped her down the steps shakily.

They reached the bottom in time to see Rory knocking the Cyberman over towards a pair of double doors, stabbing it through the chest with his sword. Evy scrambled over to the Doctor's side, disabling the arm completely with her sonic and tossing it away as she knelt beside him.

"Who..." she heard Amy begin, "Who are you..."

She looked over to see Rory remove his helmet, "Hello, Amy," something must have happened because Rory jolted forward, looking as though he'd just caught Amy, "Whoa, whoa!"

The Doctor groaned as Evy turned her attention back to him, stroking his face as his eyes fluttered.

"Go alert your captain," Evy told the soldier that had helped her.

"Sir, the man's coming round," the soldier announced, making his way to Rory.

The Doctor looked around, "Amy?" he asked, before his eyes widened and he jumped to his feet, Evy helping to steady him as he swayed, "Where's Amy?"

Evy nodded to the side room and he ran over to it.

"She's fine, Doctor, just unconscious," Rory said as Evy walked with him into the room, the Doctor rushed to where Amy was laying on a chest. Evy went to lean against the wall at Amy's head while Rory stood at her feet, the Doctor between them.

"Ok…" he flashed the sonic over her, "Yes, she's sedated, that's all."

"Give it a half an hour," she told Rory, "And she'll be just fine."

"Ok," the Doctor clapped, looking over at Rory, "Romans, good, I was just wishing for Romans," he grinned at Evy.

"Good old River," Evy agreed, highly amused at how the Doctor hadn't quite noticed Rory yet, "Romans."

"How many?" he looked back at Rory.

"50 men up top, volunteers," Rory answered, "What about that thing?" he pointed at the Cyberman impaled on the door.

"50? Not exactly a legion."

Rory nodded to another soldier who left, "Your friend was very persuasive, but it's a tough sell."

"Yes, I know that, Rory," he commented, looking around the room for something, "I'm not exactly one to miss the obvious."

"Of course not," Evy smirked, barely holding in her laughter.

"But we need everything we can get," he pulled out two very large guns from another chest, "Ok, CyberWeapons. This is basically a sentry box. So, headless wonder here was a sentry. Probably got himself duffed up by the locals. Never underestimate a Celt."

"Doctor..." Rory began.

"Hush, Rory," the Doctor cut in.

Rory looked over at Evy who just held up a hand and mouthed 'Wait for it.'

"Why leave a Cyberman on guard?" the Doctor frowned, "Unless it's a Cyberthing in the box!

"But why lock up one of their own?" Evy countered.

"Ok, no," he agreed, "Not a Cyberthing, but what, what? No, I'm missing something obvious, Rory!" he turned to face the man.

"Something staring you in the face perhaps?" Evy guessed.

"Yes," he nodded, still staring at Rory, "Something big, something right slap in front of me, I can feel it!"

"Yeah, I think you probably are," Rory agreed.

"I'll get it in a minute," he shrugged, striding out of the room.

Rory looked at Evy who held up a single finger. A moment later there was a clattering as the Doctor dropped the guns, "There it is," she laughed.

The Doctor slowly reentered the room, walking straight over to Rory, and stared at him. He reached out tentatively and poked him in the chest, making him sway.

"My reaction as well," Evy commented. She had hardly believed Rory was real till he helped her up.

"Hello again," the Doctor said to Rory.

"Hello," Rory nodded.

"How've you been?"

"Good. Yeah, good. I mean, Roman."

"Rory, I'm not trying to be rude, but you died."

"Yeah, I know, I was there."

"You died and then you were erased from time. You didn't just die, you were never born at all, you never existed."

Rory frowned, "Erased? What does that mean?"

"How can you be here?"

"I don't know. It's kind of fuzzy."

"Fuzzy?" Evy frowned.

"Well, I died and turned into a Roman," Rory looked over at her, "It's very distracting!" he took a breath and turned to stroke Amy's cheek, "Did she miss me?"

The Doctor couldn't answer.

Evy walked over to him, taking his hand in hers, squeezing it reassuringly before turning to Rory, "I think she did…in her own way."

There was a loud whooshing and rumbling above them. They ran out into the main cavern, Rory following along, stopping short when they realized the symbols on the Pandorica were glowing green. The Doctor and Evy ran over to it, flashing their sonics across it as a few other soldiers who had entered watched.

"What is it?" Rory asked, "What's happening?"

"The final phase," the Doctor said.

"It's opening," Evy breathed, placing a hand on the turning gears.

There was another whoosh and Rory ran out of the room to check, leaving Evy and the Doctor to their work.

There was a beeping noise from River's pack. Evy walked over and opened it, seeing a second communicator, and a Vortex Manipulator. She pulled out the communicator, "What is it?"

"You're surrounded," River replied, "Have you got a plan?"

Evy glanced over at the Doctor, lying on the ground, flashing the bottom of the Pandorica, "Of course we don't."

The Doctor rolled his eyes, "Yes we do! But you need to hurry and get the TARDIS here. We need equipment!"

"Please," Evy added, mock glaring at the Doctor's demand. The comm. cut off and she looked over at the Doctor once more.

"What are you?" he whispered, staring at the box, "They're all here, all of them, all for you. What could you possibly be?"

"Whatever it is," Evy glanced at the comm. which was also acting as a small radar/scanner, "They're all here, right now…we've got to buy some time."

He nodded, holding out a hand for the comm.. Evy handed it over, and he flashed the sonic over it, keying it into the frequency of the stones, using them to broadcast the comm. to everyone listening. He turned it on, standing up but stumbling, still off from the electrocution, and dropped it.

Evy just rolled her eyes and picked it up, handing it back to him, "Sorry, sorry, dropped it!" he called, taking Evy's hand as they headed to the stairs, "Hello, Stonehenge! Who takes the Pandorica, takes the Universe. But bad news, everyone..." he ran over and jumped on a flat stone, shouting up at the sky full of ships, "'Cos guess who?" he held out a hand, pulling Evy up beside him, "Ha! Listen, you lot, you're all whizzing about, it's really very distracting. Could you all just stay still a minute? Because I. Am. Talking!"

Surprisingly, the ships stilled.

"The question of the hour is, who's got the Pandorica?" he continued, "Answer..." he squeezed Evy's hand, smirking at her, "We do. Next question, who's coming to take it from us? Come on! Look at us, no plan, no backup, no weapons worth a damn. Oh, and something else, we don't have, anything...to...lose!" he shouted, laughing, "So if you're sitting up there in your silly little spaceship, with all your silly little guns, and you've got any plans on taking the Pandorica tonight, just remember who's standing in your way. Remember every black day we ever stopped you. And then, AND THEN, do the smart thing," he looked over at Evy who was watching him with a wide grin on her face, she did so love it when he did things like this, he winked at her, "Let somebody else try first."

He threw his arms out, holding Evy's up as well, as though daring one of them to try something.

The ships took off.

Rory breathed a sigh of relief as the Doctor tossed him the communicator and jumped down.

Evy laughed, "They'll be squabbling for half an hour at least!" she grinned at Rory.

"Romans!" the Doctor shouted in greeting, before turning and heading off to the underhenge once more with Evy.

"They're still out there," Rory frowned, following them, tossing the communicator over to River's pack, "What do we do now?"

"If we can just stop the box from opening, they'll all go home," Evy said.

"Right…"

The Doctor tensed, seeing something over Rory's shoulder, "Rory, we're sorry, you're going to have to be very brave now."

Evy looked over to see that Amy had woken up and was walking towards them, rubbing her head.

She walked right past Rory and over to them, "Oh, my head," she frowned.

"Go aaahhh," the Doctor widened his mouth in demonstration.

"Aaahhh," Amy mimicked, the Doctor leaning over to look in her mouth.

"Just your basic knock out drops."

"Go get some fresh air and you'll be fine," Evy added.

"Is it safe up there?" Amy asked.

"Not remotely, but it's fresh," the Doctor told her.

"Fine," she sighed, turning to walk out, nearly bumping into Rory who was right behind her, "Oh, you're the guy, yeah, the one who did the...swordy thing," she mimed stabbing movements.

"Yeah," Rory's hopeful, excited expression slowly faded.

"Well, thanks for the swording," she mimed again, before tapping him on the shoulder and walking off, "Nice swording."

"No problem," he looked down a moment, before spinning around, "My men are up there. They'll look after you."

"Good," Amy waved over her shoulder, "Love a Roman!" and then she walked up the stairs.

Rory watched her leave sadly, "She doesn't remember me," he turned to face them, "How can she not remember me?"

"Because you never existed," the Doctor told him sadly, "There are cracks. Cracks in time."

"One day there will be a terrible explosion," Evy continued, "So terrible that every other moment in history will crack around it."

"So how does that work?" Rory frowned, "What kind of explosion? What exploded?"

"Doesn't matter, the cracks are everywhere," the Doctor waved the question off, "Get too close and you can fall right out of the Universe."

"So I fell through a crack and now I was never born?"

"Basically."

"How did I end up here?"

"We don't know, you shouldn't have."

"What happened?" Evy asked, "From your point of view, what physically happened?"

"I was in the cave, with you and the Doctor and Amy," he told her, "I was dying and then I was just...here. A Roman soldier. A proper Roman. Head full of Roman...stuff, a whole other life. Just here like I'd woken up from a dream. Started to think it _was_ a dream. You and the Doctor and Amy and Leadworth. Then today, in the camp, the men were talking about the visitors, the girl with the red hair. I thought you'd come back for me. But she can't even remember me."

"Oh, shut up," the Doctor cut in.

"What?"

"I think she can," Evy said, leaning on the Doctor as he wrapped an arm around her, "She…she cries sometimes Rory, like she's so sad and she doesn't know why. Like she's lost something but doesn't know what. I…I've seen her sometimes, get this look on her face like she's so close to realizing what's gone, but snaps out of it before it can happen."

The Doctor nodded, tossing Rory the ring box from his pocket, "Go get her!"

Evy smiled and walked back to the Pandorica, scanning it more with her sonic as the Doctor dealt with a rather confused Rory.

"But I don't understand," Rory shook his head, "Why am I here?"

"Because you are?" the Doctor shrugged, "The Universe is big. It's vast and complicated and ridiculous, and sometimes, very rarely, impossible things just happen and we call them miracles, and that's the theory," he shook his head, "900 years, I've only ever seen one miracle."

"What was it?" Rory cut in.

The Doctor just glanced over his shoulder at Evy before turning back, "But…as far as real, actual miracles to others go, this would do me. Now get upstairs, she's Amy and she's surrounded by Romans. I'm not sure history can take it."

Evy laughed as the Doctor slapped Rory on the back and sent him off.

~8~

The communicator beeped and the Doctor snatched it up, "The TARDIS, where is it? Hurry up!"

"Don't raise your voice, don't look alarmed, just listen," River's voice cut in. The Doctor looked over at Evy, giving her a brief nod as they made their way to one side of the Pandorica, away from the soldiers. He reached out, pulling her close so she could hear the conversation as well.

"Go ahead," Evy told her quietly.

"They're not real, they can't be," River said, "They're all right here in the story book, those actual Romans, the ones I sent you, the ones you're with right now. They're all in a book in Amy's house, a children's picture book. And I think someone else might have been here too…"

"What are you even _doing_ there?" the Doctor asked.

"It doesn't matter. The TARDIS went wrong. How is this possible?"

"Something must be using her memories," Evy realized, "Amy's memories."

"But how?"

"You said something had been there," the Doctor frowned.

"Yes, there's burn marks on the grass outside, landing patterns."

Evy looked up at the Doctor, "If they've been to her house, they could have used her psychic residue."

The Doctor nodded, "Structures can hold memories, that's why houses have ghosts. They could've taken a snapshot of Amy's memories."

"But why?"

"Who are those Romans?" River asked quietly.

"Projections? Duplicates?"

"But they were _helping_ us. My lipstick even worked."

"They might think they're real," the Doctor began, "The perfect disguise. They actually believe their own cover story, right until they're activated…" he squeezed Evy to him, dropping a kiss down on to her head.

They were surrounded.

"That Centurion...there's a picture here of him as well…it's a trap, it has to be. They used Amy to construct a scenario you'd believe, to get close to you."

"Why? Who'd do that? What for? It doesn't make sense."

There was a slight shout over the communicator.

"River?" Evy asked, "River? River, what happened?"

"I don't know, it's the engines," River shouted, "There's something wrong with the TARDIS, like something else is controlling it."

"You're flying it wrong," the Doctor called.

"I'm flying it perfectly. Evy taught me!"

"Where are you?" Evy asked quickly, "What's the date reading?"

"It's the 26th June, 2010."

The Doctor and Evy looked at each other in concern, "You need to get out of there now!" he shouted, "Any other time zone, just go."

"I can't break free."

"Then, shut down the TARDIS," Evy supplied, "Shut down everything!"

"I can't!" River yelled…and suddenly a voice that wasn't River's echoed through the device.

"Silence will fall. Silence will fall."

And then River was back, "Someone else is flying it. An external force. I've lost control."

"But how?" the Doctor shook his head, "Why?"

Suddenly there was a high-pitched whine, forcing Evy and the Doctor to cover their ears in pain. It was worse than two sonics held together! It lasted only a moment though before it faded.

"River listen," Evy cut in, "Land anywhere. Emergency landing, right now."

"There are cracks in time," the Doctor added, "We've seen them everywhere, and they're getting wider."

"They'll be created if the TARDIS explodes, but we can stop that all if you land and get out now!"

"It's not safe!" River shouted.

Light suddenly filled the room as the Pandorica started to open, two sides sliding away from the corner facing the entrance. Evy and the Doctor stumbled back, their eyes on the light.

"Well, now…" the Doctor breathed, "Ready to come out, are we?"

"I'm down!" River shouted, "I've landed."

"Walk out of the doors," Evy told her, "The engines will shut down if no one's inside."

"Just get out of there," the Doctor agreed.

"I'm going," River replied.

"Run!" he shouted. He glanced at Evy, handing her the comm. as he took a step towards the Pandorica, his sonic out and ready, scanning it.

"Doctor! Evy! I can't open the doors!"

The Doctor looked back over at Evy, his eyes widening as he saw the soldiers advancing, "Evy!" he shouted, but the soldiers grabbed her arms before she could even look over her shoulder. He ran forward, trying to get to her but was grabbed as well.

"Evy, I can't open the doors!" River yelled, "Doctor, please, I've got seconds!"

But the communicator was on the ground, both Evy and the Doctor being held by two soldiers each and being led away from the Pandorica.

"Plastic Romans," Evy guessed, "Nestene Duplicates."

"Deep cover, but what for?" the Doctor tried, "What are you doing? What's in there, eh? What's coming out?"

The duplicates holding them faced the Pandorica as they struggled, facing the opposite direction, "The Pandorica is ready," a soldier announced.

"What? You mean it's open?"

"You have been scanned," Evy and the Doctor froze at the voice of a Dalek, "Assessed. Understood. The Doctor and Evy."

They looked over their shoulders to see the white Dalek materialize, a red and yellow one beside it. The soldiers reached out, grabbing their arms and turning them so they were now facing the Daleks, but still restrained.

"Scanned?" Evy shook her head, "Scanned by what, the box?"

"Your limits and capacities have been extrapolated," a Cyberman stated as he too appeared, followed by Judoon and Sontarans.

"The Pandorica is ready," the Sontaran called.

"Ready for what?" the Doctor asked as they looked between all their enemies, two or three creatures of every race now filling the room.

"Ready for _you_ ," the Dalek announced.

The duplicates marched forward, leading them to the Pandorica which was now wide open, white light shining from it. Amidst the advanced technology there was a chair facing forward with restraints, a narrow space around it from the walls, just enough room to walk. And that was when they realized…there was another chair behind it!

The duplicates walked in first with a struggling Evy, trying to get back, as the Doctor struggled trying to get to her. He watched in horror, helpless, as they forced her into the back of the box, strapping her down. He could hear clamps and could vaguely see a chest restraint move. Then wrist cuffs clamped down, followed by a shoulder and head restraint.

"Evy!" he shouted.

"You shall join your Link soon enough," a Dalek stated as the two duplicates walked out, the second set pulling him forward as well, while Silurians, Hoix, and Roboforms, watched along with others. They forced him into the chair, clamping down on his wrist and ankles while a large yoke came down over his shoulders.

"You lot, working together, an alliance…how is that possible?" he stared at his enemies as they gloated.

"The cracks in the skin of the Universe," the Dalek began.

"All reality is threatened," the Sontaran agreed.

"All Universes will be deleted," the Cyberman announced.

"What?" he shook his head, "And you've come to us for help?"

"No," Evy breathed from behind him, "They want to _stop_ us."

"We will save the Universe from you!" the Sontaran shouted.

" _From_ us?" the Doctor frowned.

"All projections correlate," the Cyberman began, "All evidence concurs. The Doctor and his Link Evy will destroy the Universe."

"No!" Evy shouted, "You're wrong!"

"The Pandorica was constructed to ensure the safety of the alliance," the Cyberman explained.

"A scenario was devised from the memories of your companion," the Dalek continued.

"A trap the Doctor could not resist," the Sontaran sneered, "A trap he would lead his Link to as well."

The Doctor tensed, his eyes wide, realizing he _had_ led Evy right to this as well…

' _Don't you dare_ ,' Evy cut into his thoughts, 'I _was the one who made us go see River. It was the_ both _of us together._ '

"The cracks in time are the work of the Doctor and Evy," the Dalek stated, "It is confirmed."

"No, no, no," the Doctor disagreed, "Not us, the _TARDIS_. And we're not in the TARDIS, are we?"

"Only the Doctor and his Link can pilot the TARDIS."

"Please, listen to us!" Evy shouted.

"You will be prevented."

"Total event collapse!" the Doctor tried, "Every sun will supernova at every moment in history."

"The whole Universe will never have existed!" Evy added, "Please, listen!"

"Seal the Pandorica," the Cyberman ordered.

"No!" Evy shouted, "Please, listen!"

"The TARDIS is exploding right now and we're the only ones who can stop it!" the Doctor yelled, "Listen to us!"

But it was too late, the Pandorica slammed shut. The Doctor leaned his head back, resting it on the back of Evy's when she did the same, as they were sealed away.

To be continued…

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're getting close to the dynamic-changing chapter :) Only 4 more chapters!
> 
> I always wondered why Judoon never translated even with the TARDIS right there. I'm just guessing that they're so intimidating that the TARDIS doesn't want to scare the humans with talk of judgements and executions and such.
> 
> As for the Link. I figure that friendly Links, or even sibling or rivalry Links, wouldn't display as much affection and love as the romantic Links. Going out into the Universe, they probably wouldn't have taken their Links with them or at least not introduced them as their Link. But the romantic Links would go together, not wanting to be apart, and would probably, at some point, mention the Linking process to those on their travels. In that sense, the Universe has only ever seen romantic Links so, to other species, they think Linking is like marriage and that's it, no other versions. Only those on Gallifrey really know what Linking is.
> 
> Next chapter...Rory learns more about the Link's downsides which leaves him feeling a bit green. The Doctor's not the only one the Dalek targets. The Doctor and Evy share a sweet moment.


	20. The Big Bang

Rory sat outside Stonehenge with Amy's body lying in his lap, still unable to believe that he'd shot her, unable to believe that behind his fingers was a gun of some sort.

"So the Universe ended," he was saying, glancing up at the starless sky, "You missed that. In 102 A.D. I suppose this means you and I never get born at all. Twice, in my case. You would have laughed at that…" he looked down at her prone from, tears in his eyes, "Please laugh!" he begged, before sniffling, "The Doctor said the Universe was huge and ridiculous, and sometimes there were miracles. I could do with a ridiculous miracle about now."

Suddenly the Doctor appeared in a crackle of energy, wearing a fez and carrying mop, "Rory!" the Doctor shouted, "Listen, she's not dead. Well, she _is_ dead, but it's not the end of the world. Well, it _is_ the end of the world. Actually, it's the end of the Universe…"

"Oi!" Evy appeared in a crackle of energy beside him, "Give me that!" she grabbed the mop and slapped her wrist, disappearing in a crackle again.

"What?" Rory shook his head.

"Right…" the Doctor nodded, turning back to him, "You need to get us out of the Pandorica," he reached into his pocket and pulled his sonic out.

"You're not in the Pandorica."

"Yes, we are. Well, we're not now, but we were back then. Well, back now from your point of view, which is back then from our point of view. Time travel, you can't keep it straight in your head. It's like a big ball of wib…"

Evy appeared again, mid-eye roll, and slapped her hand over the Doctor's mouth, "You can open it from the outside with this," she plucked the sonic from the Doctor's hands, "Just point and press. Now go," she tossed the screwdriver to Rory, disappearing with the Doctor.

Rory looked around, flabbergasted, when the Doctor appeared one more time, "Oh, when you're done, leave my screwdriver in her top pocket. Good luck!"

And then he disappeared once more.

"What do you mean?" Rory called after him, "Done what?"

~8~

The Pandorica opened, sliding apart to reveal the Doctor sitting on the inside, the top of Evy's head visible behind him. The Doctor looked over, amazed, to see Rory standing there, holding up a sonic, "How did you do that?" he asked as the restraints popped open, freeing them.

"You gave me this," Rory said, holding up the sonic. Evy stood up, rubbing her wrists as she looked over at them.

"No, I didn't," the Doctor pulled out his own sonic.

"You did. Look at it."

Evy stepped out of the box and over to Rory, taking the sonic from him and fiddling with it in her hands, she held it up to the Doctor's and it sparked, "Temporal energy."

"Same screwdriver, at different points in its own time stream," the Doctor nodded, "Which means it _was_ me who gave it to you. Me from the future."

"The both of you, actually," Rory added.

"We've got a future," he turned to grin at Evy, "That's nice."

"Ooh but that's not…" Evy nodded over to the petrified remains of their enemies behind Rory.

Rory spun around to see a Dalek looking as though it'd been turned to stone, "Yeah. What are they?"

"With the collapse of history whole races were deleted from existence."

"These are just like afterimages," the Doctor added, "Echoes, fossils in time. The footprints of the never-were."

"Er, what does that mean?" Rory frowned.

"Total event collapse," Evy sighed, "The Universe literally never happened."

"So, how can we be here? What's keeping us safe?"

"Nothing," the Doctor replied, "Eye of the storm, that's all. We're just the last light to go out."

"Rory…" Evy looked around, "Where's Amy?"

~8~

The Doctor squatted down by Amy's body, Evy kneeling beside him as he lifted a blanket that was covering her back.

"I killed her," Rory breathed.

"Oh, Rory!" Evy shook her head.

"What am I?"

"You're a Nestene Duplicate," the Doctor answered, "A lump of plastic with delusions of humanity."

Evy flashed Amy with her sonic, scanning her.

"But I'm Rory now. Whatever was happening, it's stopped. I'm Rory!"

"That's software talking," the Doctor said. Evy looked up at him from her scans, giving him a small nod.

"Can you help her? Is there anything you can do?"

"Yeah, probably, if we had the time," the Doctor shrugged, standing.

"The _time_?"

"All of creation has just been wiped from the sky," the Doctor walked a few feet away, "Do you know how many lives now never happened? All the people who never lived? Your girlfriend isn't more important than the whole Universe."

Rory suddenly whipped the Doctor around and threw a sound punch, knocking him to the ground. Evy flinched, tilting her head a bit as she clenched her jaw, feeling the stinging pain there.

"She is to _me_!" Rory roared.

The Doctor popped up, laughing as he straightened, spinning back to Rory, "Welcome back, Rory Williams! Sorry, had to be sure. Hell of a gun arm you're packing there."

"Speaking of which…" Evy called, the two men turned to see her rubbing her jaw, "Please refrain from punching my Link in the future…it's not a pleasant experience for me."

Rory frowned, "What?"

The Doctor moved to Evy's side, rubbing his hand along her jaw where the pain had already lessened to a tingle, "The Link means we can feel each other," the Doctor explained, "Not just emotions. It's powerful enough that we can physically feel each other's pain as well."

Rory's eyes widened at the realization that, "I punched you too?"

"Not exactly…" Evy began.

"I punched a girl…" Rory looked a bit green, feeling quite sick at the notion that, by punching the Doctor, he'd cause Evy the same hurt as well.

Evy just laughed, "Forget that for now, we need to get Amy downstairs."

"And take that look off your plastic face," the Doctor called, helping Evy pick up Amy, "You're getting married in the morning!"

They brought her down to the Pandorica, sitting her in the Doctor's chair and locking her arms in as Rory stood behind them, watching, concerned, "So you've got a plan, then?"

"Oh never!" Evy laughed.

"Bit of a plan, yeah," the Doctor countered, "Memories are more powerful than you think, and Amy Pond is not an ordinary girl, grew up with a time crack in her wall. The Universe pouring through her dreams every night. The Nestenes took a memory print of her and got more than they bargained for. Like you."

"Not just what you look like," Evy added, moving to kneel in front of Amy as the Doctor stepped out of the box, "But your heart, your soul," she placed her hands on Amy's shoulders and rested her forehead on Amy's head, "I'm projecting a message to her so that when she wakes up she'll know what's happening."

The Doctor smiled, watching her work, Evy was always better at projecting her thoughts to others. She nodded, stepping out of the box as the Doctor soniced it shut.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Rory ran forward, but he box had closed, "What are you doing?"

"Saving her," the Doctor said, "This is the ultimate prison. You can't even escape by dying."

"It'll force her to stay alive, Rory," Evy added.

"But she's already dead," Rory frowned.

"Not _exactly_ ," Evy smiled.

"She was _mostly_ dead," the Doctor said, "The Pandorica can stasis-lock her that way. All it needs is a scan of her living DNA and it'll restore her."

"Where's it going to get that?" Rory asked.

The Doctor looked at his watch, "In about 2,000 years."

Evy walked over to River's bag, pulling out the Vortex Manipulator she'd seen before and handing it to the Doctor who began putting it on his wrist.

"She's going to be in that box for 2,000 years?" Rory exclaimed.

"Yeah, but we're taking a shortcut," the Doctor smiled, "River's Vortex Manipulator. Rubbish way to time travel, but the Universe is tiny now. We'll be fine."

"So the future's still there, then? Our world?"

"A _version_ of it at least," Evy said, "Not exactly how you remember it though."

"Earth alone in the sky," the Doctor nodded, grinning, "Let's go and have a look," he held out his arm, "You put your hand there. Don't worry, should be safe."

"That's not what I'm worried about," Rory shook his head, glancing at the box.

"She'll be fine. Nothing can get into this box."

" _You_ got in there."

"Well, there's only one of us. I counted."

"This box needs a guard. I killed the last one."

"No," the Doctor shook his head, "Rory, no. Don't even think about it."

"She'll be all alone."

"She won't feel it."

"You bet she won't!"

"2,000 years, Rory. You won't even _sleep_ , you'd be conscious every second. It would drive you mad."

"Will she be safer, if I stay? Look me in the eye and tell me she wouldn't be safer."

The Doctor sighed, "Rory…"

"Answer me!"

"Yes," Evy cut in, "Of course she would."

"Then how could I leave her?" Rory shook his head.

The Doctor frowned, "Why do you have to be so...human?"

"Because right now, I'm not," Rory turned to walk over to the Pandorica.

"It's not _really_ about humanity," Evy remarked, the Doctor looked down at her to see her looking at him, "Amy is to Rory, what I am to you," she took the Doctor's hand, "Could you _ever_ leave me to skip ahead in time?"

The Doctor smiled softly, brushing a strand of hair away from her face, "Never."

"Well there you have it then," she smiled as she reached into her pocket and pulled out a second Manipulator.

"Where did you get that?" he asked, staring at it.

"I made it. Remember Mars?"

He winced, recalling that event, but then thinking of the crude Manipulator she had strapped on before she left him to deal with the mess he'd made of Adelaide and her remaining crew, "Why didn't you use it before?"

She shrugged, "I didn't think of it, we didn't really need it, and besides…I prefer the TARDIS."

The Doctor shook his head at her before pressing some buttons on his Manipulator as she did the same, setting the coordinates, "Listen to us," he called over to Rory, "This is the last bit of advice you're going to get in a very long time. You're living plastic, but not immortal. We have no idea how long you'll last. And you're not indestructible."

"Watch out for heat and radio signals once they're discovered," Evy added as Rory put his helmet on.

"You can't heal, or repair yourself. Any damage is permanent. So, for God's sake, however bored you get, stay out of..."

And then they disappeared, reappearing in the Pandorica Room in the National Museum, 1996.

"Trouble…" he finished. Evy grabbed his hand, seeing a Dalek behind them. He turned to see it as well, before spotting both Amy and her younger self standing before them, apparently their plan worked, "Two of you? Complicated!"

"Exterminate!" the Dalek cried, "Weapons systems restoring."

The Doctor ran forward, taking Amelia's hand while Evy grabbed Amy's, pulling them away, "Come along, Ponds!" he called as they ran across the room and behind the Pandorica.

"Exterminate!"

They ran into an alcove display of North Africa, the Doctor stumbling into one of the mannequins, grabbing the fez it was wearing before it fell, and placing it on his own head to free his hands.

"What are we doing?" Amy asked him.

"Running into a dead end, where either Evy or I will have a brilliant plan, that basically involves not being in one," the Doctor replied quickly.

"What's going on?" someone shouted.

The Doctor and Evy ran over to the side of the Pandorica, looking around the corner of it to see a night watchman enter the room, pointing a torch at the Dalek.

"Get out!" Evy shouted.

"Go!" the Doctor agreed, "Just run!"

"Drop the device," the Dalek ordered, turning on the watchman.

"That's not a weapon," Evy shouted, "Scan it."

"It's not a weapon, and you don't have the power to waste!" the Doctor tried to reason.

"Scans indicate intruder unarmed," the Dalek said.

"Do you think?" the watchman asked, dropping his torch. His hand fell open to reveal a gun sticking out where his fingers would be. He fired at the Dalek's eyestalk.

"Vision impaired! Vision..."

The watchman stepped forward out of the shadow to reveal Rory! He watched as the Dalek drained of energy and powered down. The Doctor ran from around the Pandorica with Evy, heading over to the Dalek, scanning it with their sonics as Amy stepped out as well.

"Amy?" Rory gasped.

"Rory!" Amy shouted, running over to him. She lunged at him, hugging him fiercely.

"I'm sorry," he pulled back, "I'm sorry, I couldn't help it. It just happened."

"Oh, shut up!"

And with that, Amy kissed him.

The Doctor ran over to them as Evy smiled at them, "Yeah, shut up, 'cos we've got to go. Come on!"

"I waited," Rory told Amy, ignoring the Doctor, "2,000 years, I waited for you."

"No, still shut up," and then Amy pulled him into a longer kiss.

"And break!" the Doctor shouted, trying to get them to stop as Evy just laughed and walked over, "And breathe!" he glanced over at Evy, "Well, somebody didn't get out much for 2,000 years."

Amelia walked over and tugged on the Doctor's sleeve, "I'm thirsty. Can I get a drink?" her own drink had been ripped out of her hand earlier.

"Oh, it's all mouths today, isn't it?" he asked, putting his fez over her head. Amelia smiled and shoved it back at him. He glanced behind Evy at the Dalek, "The light! The light from the Pandorica, it must have hit the Dalek."

Evy turned around to see the Dalek's weapon start to move, "Out!" she shouted, pushing Amelia towards Amy and Rory while she and the Doctor rushed them along, "Out, out!" they ran out of the room, Rory shutting the doors behind them as she soniced the lock.

"So, 2,000 years," the Doctor asked when Rory turned around, "How did you do?"

"Kept out of trouble," Rory shrugged.

"Oh…" he nodded, before realizing he still had the fez in his hands and put it back on his head.

"How?" Evy asked.

"Unsuccessfully," Rory replied with a slight grin. The Doctor picked up a mop, moving towards the door to use it as a block, "The mop! That's how you looked all those years ago when you gave me the sonic."

"Ah!" he nodded, typing something in on the Manipulator, "Well, no time to lose then…" he slammed it and disappeared in a crackle of energy.

"How are we going to block the door now?" Amy asked.

Evy sighed, typing in something on her own Manipulator and disappearing, only to reappear moments later with the mop in her hand.

"How did you do that?" Amelia asked, "Are you magic?"

"Close enough," Evy smiled down at her before turning to Rory, "What did he tell you after I left?"

"Um...he tried to explain how you were both in the Pandorica, and just sort of…" he trailed.

"Rambled a bit about time?" Evy supplied. Rory nodded. Evy rolled her eyes and hit the button again, disappearing.

A moment later she and the Doctor reappeared, "Right, let's go then," he called, leading them up the stairs, "Wait! Now I don't have a sonic, I just gave it Rory 2,000 years ago…"

"I've still got my sonic," Evy held hers up.

He pouted, "But I like mine…" he tapped the Manipulator and disappeared.

Evy sighed, "Boys and their toys…"

"Right then," he appeared once more, stepping over to Amy and pulling the sonic out of her top pocket, "Off we go!"

"Wait," Evy called, turning to Amelia, "How did you know to come here?"

Amelia reached into her coat pocket and pulled out a pamphlet for the Pandorica, circled in red with a little note, 'Come Along Pond,' and a sticky note, 'Stick Around Pond.'

"Your handwriting," Evy said, looking at the notes, and handing them over to the Doctor.

"Ok then!" he grinned, walking over to a small desk and pulling out a pamphlet and note from it, writing down the messages. He tapped his Manipulator and was off, dropping the pamphlet into Amelia's letterbox, and sticking the note to the Pandorica as Amelia stared at it, grabbing her drink from her hand. He appeared in the foyer again, handing Amelia back her drink, still cold from that morning, "There you go, drink up!"

"What is that?" Amy asked, nodding at his wrist, "How are you doing that?

"Vortex Manipulator..." Evy held up her own wrist.

"Cheap and nasty time travel," the Doctor continued, walking past her, "Very bad for you. I'm trying to give it up."

"Where are we going?" Amy frowned.

"The roof!"

They turned to head up the stairs, stopping short when a crackle of energy shot in front of them and another Doctor appeared, standing at the top of the steps, his jacket smoking and torn, him bruised, he fell to his knees, an unconscious Evy held tightly in his arms.

The Doctor and Evy's hearts stopped at the sight, before they ran over to the other thems. The Doctor ran to himself as he fell to the floor, his arms still wound around Evy as she checked herself.

"It's you!" Rory gasped, looking between the two of them and their doubles, "How can it be you?"

"Evy…Doctor…" Amy began, growing concerned, "Is that you?"

"Yeah," Evy nodded slowly. She flashed herself with the sonic…nearly breathing a sigh of relief till she heard a whisper in her mind…her own voice…

"Us from the future," the Doctor agreed. He looked down as his double suddenly grabbed him and whispered something in his ear before falling down, his arms around the other Evy, eyes closed. The present Doctor looked over at Evy.

"Are you...I mean, are they..." Amy swallowed, "Are they dead?"

"What?" the Doctor stood up, pulling Evy up as well, "Dead? Yes, yes. Of course they're dead," he helped Evy climb over their bodies and continued up the stairs, "Right, we've got 12 minutes, that's good."

"12 minutes to live? How is that good?"

"There's lots you can do in 12 minutes..." Evy muttered, glancing back at the bodies.

"Suck a mint, buy a sledge, have a fast bath," the Doctor listed, "Come on, the roof!"

"We can't leave you two here dead," Rory argued.

The Doctor spun around, not in the best of moods as they needed to get away from there and fast, "Oh, good! Are you in charge now? So, tell me, what are we going to do about Amelia?"

They turned around to see Amelia gone, her cup lying on the floor.

"Where did she go?" Amy asked as she and Rory ran down the steps to look for her.

"Amelia?" Rory called.

"There is no Amelia," Evy called gently, "From now on, there never was. History is still collapsing."

"How can _I_ be here, if _she's_ not?" Amy shook her head, confused.

"You're an anomaly," the Doctor told her, "We all are. We're all hanging on at the eye of the storm, but the eye is closing, and if we don't do something, reality will never have happened. Today, just dying is a result. Now, come on!"

He and Evy took off down the hall.

Amy shook her head at Rory, "He won't die. Neither of them will. Time can be rewritten. They'll find a way. I know they will. He won't let her die, and she won't let him die…"

Rory covered the future Doctor and Evy with his coat.

"Move it!" the Doctor shouted.

"Come on!" Evy called.

Amy and Rory ran up the stairs after them, catching up at a stairwell as they ran up and out onto the roof.

"What, it's morning already?" Amy looked round at the orange daylight, "How did _that_ happen?"

"History is collapsing," Evy said.

"Is anybody listening to us?" the Doctor sighed, turning to Amy and Rory, "The _Universe_ is _collapsing_. We don't have much time left."

Evy walked over to a satellite dish and flashed her sonic across it.

"What are you doing?" Rory asked.

"Trying to find the TARDIS," she replied.

"But the TARDIS exploded."

"Ok," the Doctor nodded, "Then we're looking for an _exploding_ TARDIS," he yanked the dish off the pole it was on, holding it as Evy finished sonicing it.

"I don't understand," Amy frowned, "So, the TARDIS blew up and took the Universe with it. Why would it do that? How?"

The Doctor jumped onto a raised section of the roof, "Good question for another day. But for now…total event collapse means that every star in the Universe never happened. Not one of them ever shone."

"And if all the stars that ever existed are gone now, what's _that_?" Evy pointed to a large ball of fire in the sky. Amy and Rory looked stunned as Evy glanced back over at them, "We did say, we're looking for an _exploding TARDIS_."

"But that's the sun," Rory argued.

"Is it?" the Doctor asked, "Here's the noise that sun is making right now," he nodded at Evy who soniced the dish as he held it up high, amplifying the sound, making the noise of the TARDIS audible.

"That's not the sun, it's the TARDIS burning up," Evy told them, "It's been keeping the Earth warm for nearly 2,000 years."

"There's something else," Rory frowned, listening closely, "There's a voice."

Evy and the Doctor looked at each other as Evy adjusted the settings of the screwdriver, flashing the dish again.

"I can't hear anything," Amy shook her head.

"Trust the plastic," Rory pointed to his ear.

Then, another voice reached them, "I'm sorry, my loves," playing over and over.

"That's River!" Amy gasped, "How can she be up there?"

"It must be like a recording or something," Rory said.

"No, it's not a recording," the Doctor shook his head, lowering the dish, "Of course, the emergency protocols..."

"The TARDIS sealed off the control room, putting her into a time loop in order to save her," Evy agreed, "She's right at the heart of the explosion."

~8~

In the TARDIS River connected two wires as the console sparked and exploded around her. She turned a crank, sparking the doors. She ran towards them and threw them open, only to be met by a stone wall. She let out a defeated breath, "I'm sorry, my loves," before she looked over her shoulder as the room exploded with a bright light…

In the TARDIS River connected two wires as the console sparked and exploded around her. She turned a crank, sparking the doors. She ran towards them and threw them open, only to be met by a stone wall. She let out a defeated breath, "I'm sorry, my loves," before she looked over her shoulder as the room exploded with a bright light…

In the TARDIS River connected two wires as the console sparked and exploded around her. She turned a crank, sparking the doors. She ran towards them...stopping short when she saw Evy and the Doctor leaning against them, tapping something into Vortex Manipulators on their wrists.

"Hello, dear," Evy smirked.

"We're home," the Doctor grinned.

River looked at her watch, "And what sort of time do you call this?"

Evy just laughed, walking forward with the Doctor, taking River's arms and disappearing.

They all reappeared on the roof with Amy and Rory

"Amy!" River smiled, happy to see the girl alive and well, but frowned when she saw Rory, "And the...plastic Centurion?"

"Rory," Evy told her, "He's on our side."

"Really?" River nodded slowly, "I dated a Nestene duplicate once...swappable head, it did keep things fresh. You wouldn't believe how much flak I got about it from..." she cut off suddenly, glancing at the Doctor and Evy, before clearing her throat, "Right then, I have questions. But number one is this...what in the name of sanity have you got on your head?" she turned to the Doctor as Evy laughed.

"It's a fez," he answered smoothly, "I wear a fez now. Fezzes are cool."

Amy glanced at River before reaching out and grabbing the fez, throwing it into the sky where River shot it.

"Oh!" he pouted.

"And there's the pouty face," Evy smiled, kissing him on the cheek, "I'll buy you another fez when this is all over."

They all laughed at that when…

"Exterminate!" the Dalek appeared, levitating up the side of the building.

"Run, run, move, move!" the Doctor shouted, grabbing Evy's hand and pulling her away as they all ran across the roof, "Go! Come on!"

He held up the satellite dish, using it as a shield while the Dalek fired at them. Evy flashed her sonic on the roof access hatch and they all clambered down, back into the stairwell. He slammed the hatch down, using his sonic to seal it while River had her gun aimed at it just in case.

"Doctor, come on," River urged.

"Shh," he hissed, "It's moving away, finding another way in," he climbed down the ladder and over to Evy, taking her hand in reassurance that she was fine.

"It'll need time to restore power before it can attack us again," Evy sighed.

"Now, that means we've got exactly…" he checked his watch, "Four and a half minutes before it's at lethal capacity."

They continued down the stairs when River asked, "How do you know?"

"Because that's when it's due to kill us," Evy sighed, squeezing the Doctor's hand.

"Kill you?" her eyes widened, "What do you mean, _kill you_?"

"Oh, shut up, never mind," the Doctor waved her off, "How can that Dalek even _exist_?"

They stepped into the hallway.

"It should have been erased from time, yet somehow it managed to come back," Evy nodded, "But how?"

"You said the light from the Pandorica..." Rory began.

"It's not a light, it's a restoration field, but never mind," the Doctor sighed, "Call it a light. That light brought Amy back, but how could it bring back a Dalek when the Daleks have never existed?"

"Ok, tell us," Amy said.

The Doctor looked at Evy, knowing she was better at explaining this sort of thing to humans. She sighed and turned to them, "The explosion of the TARDIS caused total event collapse. It's a time explosion which destroyed every atom in every moment of the Universe. Except..."

"Except inside the Pandorica…"

"The perfect prison," the Doctor nodded, "Inside it, perfectly preserved, a few billion atoms of the Universe as it was. In theory, you could extrapolate the whole Universe from a single one of them, like cloning a body from a single cell. And we've got the bumper family pack."

"No, too fast, I'm not getting it," Rory shook his head.

"Inside that box is a memory of the Universe," Evy explained, "The 'light' transmits the memory. It's how we'll do it."

"Do what?" Amy frowned.

"Relight the fire," the Doctor stated, "Reboot the Universe. Come on!"

They turned and walked on as Amy and Rory exchanged a look, River running after them, "Doctor, Evy, you're being completely ridiculous," she told them, "The Pandorica _partially_ restored _one_ Dalek. If it can't even reboot a single life form properly, how will it reboot the whole of reality?"

"We need to give it a moment of infinite power," Evy countered, her mind already racing to figure out how to do just that, but the only problem…it was currently exploding, "That way it can transmit the light from the Pandorica to every particle of space and time simultaneously."

"Well, that's lovely, dear, but we can't do that, because it's completely impossible."

"Impossible?" the Doctor asked, nearly scoffing, "Really?" then he turned and pulled Evy in front of him, "Hello River Song, have you met my Link Evy?" he asked, being dead serious, "Mrs. Im-impossible?"

"Im-Impossible?" Evy raised an eyebrow at him.

"Right…" he nodded, realizing that made no sense at all.

"Of all the things…un-impossible, anti-impossible, or just plain possible, you pick im-impossible?" she continued, smiling fondly at him, "Really?"

"Yeah…" he rubbed the back of his neck, "Not the best was it?" but then he shook his head, getting back to point, "It's ALMOST completely impossible. One spark is all we need."

"For what?" River asked.

The Doctor leaned forward, whispering, "Big Bang Two! Now listen..."

"Doctor!" Evy shouted, moving behind him suddenly.

He turned just in time to see Evy shot, just skimming her chest, by a Dalek. He grabbed her as she started to crumble, getting shot in the shoulder by another Dalek beam in the process. He fell to the floor, Evy gathered in his arms, his jacket smoking as the Dalek trundled down the hall towards them.

"Exterminate! Exterminate!"

"Evy…" he rasped, trying to hold her despite the pain in his body, but Evy made no move.

River knelt at their side as Rory pushed Amy out of the way and aimed his gun hand, "Get back. River, get back now!"

"Exterminate!"

Rory fired at the Dalek, draining it of its energy again.

"Evy?" River tried to shake the girl and wake her, "Evy, it's me, River and the Doctor. Can you hear us?" the Doctor suddenly winced, doubling over Evy, "What is it?" River turned to him, "What do you need?"

The Doctor turned his head away from River to look at Evy, feeling tendrils of her mind waking. He reached over and activated his Manipulator, disappearing along with Evy…

~8~

As Amy and Rory ran off up the stairs after the past Doctor and Evy, the Doctor sat up stiffly, pulling the coat off their faces, smiling as he saw Evy's eyes open. She winced, sitting up as well, rubbing her chest, "That Amy…" she smiled, "She's good…"

He took her hand, "She's right."

Evy nodded, struggling to her feet as she and the Doctor made their way towards the Pandorica, leaning on each other as their bodies tried to recover.

~8~

"Where did they go?" River looked around after the Time Lords disappeared, "Damn it, they could be anywhere."

"They went downstairs," Amy answered, "12 minutes ago."

"Show me!" River demanded, getting up.

"River, they died," Amy replied quietly.

River was stunned.

"Systems restoring!" the Dalek shouted, "You will be exterminated!"

"We've got to move," Rory ran to Amy's side, "That thing's coming back to life."

"You go to the Doctor and Evy," River said, turning to the Dalek, "I'll be right with you."

Amy and Rory gave her one more look before leaving.

"You will be exterminated!"

"Not yet, your systems are still restoring," she replied, "Which means your shield density is compromised," she pulled out her gun and adjusted the settings, "One Alpha Mezon burst through your eyestalk would kill you stone dead."

"Records indicate you will show mercy. You are an associate of the Doctor and Evy's."

"I'm River Song…" she aimed her gun, "Check your records again."

"Mercy!"

"Say it again."

"Mercy!"

"One more time."

"Mercy!"

~8~

Amy and Rory stood around the stairs where they'd left the Doctor and Evy's bodies, only to see Rory's coat but no one else there.

"How could they have moved?" Rory asked, "They were dead!" he ran down the stairs, looking around and shouting, "Doctor? Evy!"

"But they were _dead_!" Amy exclaimed.

"Who told you that?" River asked, striding down the stairs.

"They did."

"Rule one. They lie."

"Where's the Dalek?" Amy looked behind her as though expecting it to pop up.

"It died," she replied, leading them back to the Pandorica room.

They broke into a run, seeing the Doctor sitting inside the Pandorica's front chair, slumped over in his seat, his head resting against the side of the yoke. Evy was kneeling on the floor, leaning against the Doctor's legs, her sonic clenched in her one hand, her other holding the Doctor's.

Both looked very nearly dead.

"Doctor!" Amy shouted, "Evy!"

She and Rory stopped short while River ran into the box to check on them.

"Why did they tell us they were dead?" Rory asked.

"We were a diversion," Amy realized, "As long as the Dalek was chasing us, they could work down here."

"Doctor, can you hear me?" River tapped his face, before kneeling to look at Evy, seeing her sonic in hand, "What were you doing?" she looked over to see a mess of wires connecting the Doctor's Manipulator to the Pandorica.

"What's happening?" Rory asked, seeing the sun was larger than before.

"Reality's collapsing. It's speeding up. Look at this room."

The displays were empty.

"Where did everything go?" Amy asked.

"History is being erased. Time is running out. Doctor, what were you doing? Tell us! Evy please wake up..."

The Doctor slowly came around, unable to muster the strength to move his head much or fully open his eyes, "Big...Bang...Two..." he breathed.

"The Big Bang?" Rory asked, "That's the beginning of the Universe, right?"

The Doctor looked down at Evy, squeezing her hand with as much strength as he could, which wasn't much, but she stirred.

"What, and Big Bang Two is the bang that brings it back?" Amy shook her head, "Is that what you mean?"

"…TARDIS…" Evy breathed, squeezing the Doctor's hand back.

River's eyes widened, "Oh!"

"What?" Amy asked.

"The TARDIS is still burning. It's exploding at every point in history. If you threw the Pandorica into the explosion, right into the heart of the fire..."

"Then what?"

"Then let there be light. The light from the Pandorica would explode everywhere at once, just like they said."

"That would work? That would bring everything back?"

"A restoration field, powered by an exploding TARDIS, happening at every moment in history. Oh, that's _brilliant_. It might even work!" she knelt down and took Evy's sonic, "And, knowing Evy, it definitely will…" she flashed the sonic against the wires, "They've wired the Vortex Manipulator to the rest of the box."

"Why?"

River frowned, "So they can take it with them. They're going to fly the Pandorica into the heart of the explosion."

~8~

The sky was now a brilliant orange as Amy and Rory stood together, watching as River spoke quietly with Evy and the Doctor, who both seemed more awake and stronger.

"Are you ok?" Rory asked her.

"Are you?" Amy countered.

"No."

"Well, shut up then!" she snapped. Rory just pulled her into a hug.

"Amy..." River walked over, "They want to talk to you."

"So, what happens here?" Amy asked, pulling away from the hug, "Big Bang Two? What happens to us?"

"We all wake up where we ought to be. None of this ever happened and we don't remember it."

"River...tell me they come back too."

"The Doctor and Evy will be the heart of the explosion."

"So…"

"So all the cracks in time will close, but they'll be on the wrong side..." she swallowed hard, "Trapped in the never-space, the Void, between the worlds. All memory of them will be purged from the Universe. They will never have been born."

"Couldn't one of them stay behind?" Rory frowned, "Try and find some way to pull the other out?"

River shook her head, "The hearts of a Time Lord are as powerful as their mind. They would have a hole in them forever, it would be like living their entire life with the knowledge their Link is dead but unable to remember them," she shook her head, "They have to go together. Now, please. They want to talk to you before they go."

"Not to you?" Amy frowned.

"They don't really know me yet," she tried to smile but frowned, "Now they never will."

Amy walked slowly over to the Pandorica, hesitating at the sight of the Doctor and Evy, battered and bruised, looking like death warmed over, "Hi…" she breathed.

"Amy Pond," the Doctor said weakly, "The girl who waited. All night in your garden. Was it worth it?"

"Shut up. Of course it was."

"You asked why we wanted to take you with us, we said..." Evy winced, the Doctor squeezing her hand, "No reason. We were lying you know."

"It's not important," she tried to wave it off.

"Yeah, it's the most important thing left in the Universe," the Doctor countered.

"It's the reason why we're doing this," Evy added.

"Amy, your house was too big. That big, empty house. And just you."

"And Aunt Sharon," Amy reminded.

"Where were your mum and dad? Where was...everybody who lived in that big house?"

"I lost my mum and dad."

"How?" Evy asked softly, "What happened? Where did they go?"

Amy blinked, "I...I don't..."

"It's ok," the Doctor soothed, "Don't panic. It's not your fault."

"I don't even _remember_."

"That crack in your bedroom wall has been eating away at your life longer than you think," Evy tried to smile at her.

"Amy Pond, all alone," the Doctor nodded, "The girl who didn't make sense. How could we resist?"

"How could I just forget?" she asked them.

" _Nothing_ is _ever_ forgotten, not really," Evy reminded her, "But you have to _try_."

The ground shook.

"Doctor!" River shouted, "Evy! It's speeding up!"

Amy knelt down and placed Evy's sonic in her pocket where she always kept it.

"There's going to be a very big bang," the Doctor told her, "Big Bang Two. Try and remember your family and they'll be there."

"How can I remember them if they never existed?" Amy frowned.

"Because...you're special," Evy swallowed, "The Universe was pouring into your head through that crack in your wall."

"You brought Rory back..." the Doctor reminded her, "You can bring them back, too. You just remember, and they'll be there."

Amy backed away, "YOU won't."

"Oh but you'll have your _family_ back," Evy smiled, "You won't need imaginary friends," she winced, struggling to stand and make her way back to the second seat.

The Doctor laughed weakly, seeing the tears in Amy's eyes, "Amy Pond...crying over us, eh? Guess what?"

"What?" she asked.

"Gotcha," he grinned.

The Pandorica closed.

Amy walked slowly backwards, not taking her eyes off it as it began to glow.

"Back!" River shouted, "Get back!" she pushed Amy out of the way as it launched into the sky.

~8~

The Doctor quickly typed a message into the communicator Evy had placed in his lap before dropping it to the floor in pain.

~8~

River, Rory, and Amy sat huddled on the floor, against the wall, when River's comm. beeped, "It's from the Doctor and Evy!" she gasped, looking up.

"What does it say?" Amy looked over.

River laughed, "'Geronimo.'"

~8~

The Doctor's Manipulator clad hand clenched into a fist as the Pandorica flew through the air, heading straight for the TARDIS. He looked over at his left arm, left free from the restrains and reached to the side, taking Evy's free hand as well, both holding tight as the Pandorica collided with the exploding TARDIS.

~8~

They could practically feel time reverse as they were pulled back…waking up on the floor of the TARDIS. The Doctor's eyes popped open and he sat up, looking beside him to see Evy's eyes fluttering open as well, slowly pushing herself to sit up, their hands held as they had been in the Pandorica.

"We escaped, then," he nodded slowly, looking at her, "Brilliant! Love it when we do that."

Evy let out a little laugh as he looked down to examine himself, much like when they'd first regenerated.

"Legs, yes. Bow-tie, cool," he tapped his head and looked over at Evy, "You owe me a fez."

She started to really laugh, when they heard someone talking in the TARDIS that sounded a lot like them and Amy, "The beach!" the Doctor was saying, "The beach is the best. Automatic sand."

"Automatic sand?" Amy asked, "What does _that_ mean?"

"That it's totally automated," Evy explained.

They peeked around the wall to see themselves fiddling around the console with Amy standing there, dressed for the beach.

"Oh…" the present Evy breathed, realizing they hadn't escaped at all.

"Cleans up the lolly sticks..." the past Doctor continued to explain as he worked on the bottom panel of the console.

"That's last week when we went to Space Florida," the present Doctor said, squeezing Evy's hand, "We're rewinding. Our…our time stream...unraveling, erasing."

"Closing," Evy swallowed hard, looking back to see a crack closing behind them.

"Hello, Universe, goodbye, Doctor and Evy huh?" he looked over at her.

Evy smiled at him before looking over at Amy, smiling softly at her, "Amy..."

Past Amy turned around, frowning as she looked over her sunglasses.

Evy frowned as well, "Amy?"

~8~

They were on the street outside of Craig's flat, watching as Amy crossed the road in front of them, "Ah, three weeks ago," the Doctor nodded, "When she put the card in the window."

"Amy!" Evy suddenly called.

Amy looked up.

The Doctor's eyes widened in surprise, seeing hope, "We need to tell you something!" he shouted. But Amy just frowned and turned around, walking off, "She can _hear_ us!"

"But...if she can hear us…" Evy trailed.

They turned around to see the crack in the road sealing.

~8~

They were in the forest of the _Byzantium_ , watching as the soldiers positioned themselves around Past Evy, ready to protect her from the Angels. The Doctor's grip on Evy's hand tightened as he recalled this event.

The Past Doctor took a breath before standing, "Good luck everyone. Behave. And keep watching the forest. Stop those Angels advancing. And take care of her."

"With our lives sir," Marco swore.

"You need to do this one yourself," Evy told him quietly as they watched the Past Doctor nod and walk off, striding past Amy who had waited for him, "She knows I can't be standing there with my eyes open in a different outfit."

He nodded as they watched Amy look after the disappearing Past Doctor, and back over at Past Evy who was sitting there, on a rock. Amy sighed, looking down as she turned to follow after the Past Doctor. She had only stepped past a tree or two when she nearly ran into the present Doctor as he stepped in front of her, Evy hiding a small ways away.

"Doctor!" she gasped, stumbling back in shock.

"Amy," he shook his head, tugging at the cuff of his coat, "You need to let go. You need to move on. You need to start trusting Evy, trusting me, trusting us, the _two_ of us, it's never been more important."

Amy swallowed and looked away, not wanting to talk about it, "Doctor, the crack in my wall, how can it be here?"

He frowned, seeing the change in topic, but let it go, "We don't know yet, but we're working it out. Now, listen. Remember what we told you when you were seven?"

"What did you tell me?"

"No, no...that's not the point. _You_ have to remember."

And with that, he turned and walked off through the bushes, Evy pulling him to the side as Amy called, "Remember what?" and tried to walk after him, "Doctor? Doctor!"

"Over here Amy!" they heard River shout in the distance.

~8~

They were in Amy's house.

"Amelia's house," the Doctor checked his watch, "When she was seven."

"The night she waited for us," Evy turned and opened the door, stepping outside. They walked through the back yard to see little Amelia curled up, asleep atop of her suitcase.

"The girl who waited," the Doctor muttered, before walking over to her, picking her up, "Come here, you."

Evy picked up the suitcase, opening the doors for the Doctor as he carried the girl inside and up to her bedroom where they tucked her into bed. The Doctor pulled up a little chair and sat down next to the bed, pulling Evy to sit on his lap.

"It's funny," he said after a moment of silence, looking down at Amelia, "I thought, if you could hear us, we could hang on somehow," he squeezed Evy tightly around the middle, soon she would never be born, "Silly me. Silly old Doctor."

Evy turned in his arms and gave him a kiss, "Sometimes silly can be brilliant," she reminded him, smiling softly. She leaned over, resting a hand on Amelia's little hand, poking out beneath her blankets, "When you wake up, your mum and dad will be there..."

"And you won't even remember us. Well, you'll remember us a little. We'll be a story in your head," he continued, smiling at the thought.

"And that's just fine," Evy nodded, squeezing the Doctor's arm around her, "Aren't we all just stories in the end?"

He nearly laughed, "Just make it a good one, eh? 'Cos it was, you know."

"It was the _best_ ," she agreed, smiling.

"A daft old man who stole a magic box and ran away from home, only to meet a woman who kept his home in her hearts," he laughed, looking over at Amelia, "Did I ever tell you that I stole it? Well, I borrowed it. I was always going to take it back."

"So he says," she cut in, nudging him.

"Oh, that box, Amy," he nuzzled Evy's head with his own, closing his eyes and thinking about it, "You'll dream about that box. It'll never leave you. Big and little at the same time. Brand new and ancient."

"The _bluest_ blue ever," Evy closed her eyes as well.

"And the times we had, eh?" he shook his head, "Woulda had...never had."

"They'll still be there in your dreams."

"The Doctor, Evy Daniels, and Amy Pond," he pulled away, content, "And the days that never came. The cracks are closing. But they can't close properly until we're on the other side. We don't belong here anymore."

Evy stood up, pulling the Doctor up as well, seeing the tears in his eyes, "I think we'd best skip the rest," she hugged him, "I know how you hate repeats."

"That I do," he agreed, smiling down at her. He turned to Amy, the two of them kneeling at her bedside, "Live well."

"Love Rory," Evy added, kissing her head.

"Bye bye, Pond," the Doctor kissed her head as well, before taking Evy's hand, the two of them walking towards the crack on her wall, content in the knowledge that they were going together.

~8~

Amy Pond woke up in her bedroom, sitting up in her bed, looking at her room. She glanced at a small collection of crafts she had kept from childhood, dolls of two characters, the Raggedy Doctor and the Impossible Evy, before looking at the wedding dress hanging up.

"Morning!" a woman entered her room with a breakfast tray.

"You're my mum!" Amy gasped, "Oh, my God, you're my mum."

"Well, of course I'm your mum," her mother replied, eyeing her, "What's the matter with you? And this is your breakfast, which your father made, so feel free to tip it out of the window if it's an atrocity. Downstairs, 10 minutes? Big day!"

She turned and walked out of the room, leaving Amy to her thoughts, "Of course she's my mum. Why is that surprising?" she shook her head and got out of bed, heading down the stairs to the sitting room to see a short man there.

"Ah, Amelia," he turned to her, "I fear I may have been using the same joke book as the best man."

"You're my tiny little dad!" Amy shouted, running over and hugging him.

"Amelia, why are you behaving as if you've never seen us before?" her mother asked, walking into the room.

"I don't know," Amy shook her head, "It's just..." she turned and ran out of the room, back to her bedroom to call the one person who might understand.

"Hello!" the voice of her fiancé, Rory, answered.

"Do you feel like you've forgotten something really important?" she asked him seriously, "Do you feel like there's a great big thing in your head, and you feel like you should remember it, but you can't?"

"Yep," Rory answered after a moment.

"Are you just saying yes 'cos you're scared of me?"

"Yep."

Amy smiled softly to herself, "I love you."

"Yep," he repeated, before catching himself, "I mean, I love you too!"

Amy turned her phone off and sat there, thinking for a moment, before rushing over and grabbing her dress.

~8~

The wedding had been beautiful and the reception was moving along perfectly. The best man had just finished his speech, earning applause from the guests, "Ladies and gentlemen, the father of the bride, Augustus Pond!" the best man passed it over to Amy's father.

Augustus stood, "Sorry, everyone. I'll be another two minutes. I'm just reviewing certain aspects," he sat back down to the laugher of the guests.

"Your father, Amelia, will be the absolute death of me," her mother leaned over to tell her, "Unless, of course, I strike preemptively."

Amy laughed, but stopped short when she saw a woman with curly, sandy colored hair in black walk past the window. She stood, trying to catch a better glimpse of the woman she swore she knew.

"Amy?" Rory frowned, concerned, "You ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm..." she sat back down, "Fine."

"Right," he nodded, before noticing, "You're crying."

"So I am," she reached up to wipe away a tear, turning to him, confused, "Why am I doing that?"

"Because you're happy? Probably. Happy Mrs. Rory. Happy, happy, happy."

"No," she shook her head slowly, "I'm sad. I'm really, _really_ sad."

"Great…" he breathed, a bit hurt.

" _Why_ am I sad?" she asked, looking down at the table in front of Rory, "What's that?"

"Oh, er, someone left it for you," Rory handed her a old, blue journal that almost looked like an old telephone box, "A woman."

"But what is it?"

"It's a book."

Amy flipped through the journal, "It's blank."

"It's a present."

"But _why_?"

"Well, you know the old saying," he shrugged, "The old...wedding...thing. Huh?" Amy looked down, starting to remember something, "Amy?"

Augustus stood again, "Ready now. Sorry about that. Last minute adjustments to certain aspects. Now then, it hardly seems a year..."

Amy looked around the room, ignoring the speech her father was giving. She caught sight of one guest wearing a red bowtie, another wearing blue braces, a woman wearing a tan jacket and another with blonde hair up in a ponytail…a tear fell from her eye.

"...at the age of six and announced that the new head teacher wasn't real because she looked like a cartoon," Augustus continued.

Amy stood suddenly, "Shut up dad!"

"Amy?" Rory frowned.

"Amelia?" Augustus gaped at her.

"Sorry, but shut up, please!" she begged, looking around frantically, "There're people missing...important people. Two people so, SO important."

"Amy, what's wrong?" Rory asked, taking her hand.

"Sorry," she glanced at him before looking at the guests, "Sorry, everyone. But when I was a kid, I had two imaginary friends."

Her mother sighed, "Oh no, not this again."

"The Raggedy Doctor and the Impossible Evy," she smiled, "My Doctor and Evy. But they weren't imaginary. They were _real_!"

"The psychiatrists we sent her to!" her mother continued to lament.

"I remember you!" Amy shouted at no one in particular, "I _remember_! I brought the others back, I can bring _you_ home too. Raggedy man and Impossible girl, I remember you, and _you_ are _late_ for _my wedding_!"

It was silent, when Rory heard the glasses start to tinkle against each other and felt the ground start to shake, the chandelier swayed.

"I found you," she cried, "I found you in words, like you knew I would. That's why you told me the story...the brand new, ancient, blue box. Oh, clever. _Very_ clever."

The wind began to pick up and blow, a wheezing noise filled the room.

"Amy, what is it?" Rory stared at the center of the dance floor as though expecting something to appear.

"Something old," Amy said seriously, "Something new. Something borrowed. Something _blue_."

A bright blue police phone box materialized in the middle of the floor.

"It's the Doctor and Evy!" Rory cried, standing up, completely stunned. The TARDIS solidified and Amy literally climbed over the table to get to it, "How did we forget the Doctor and Evy?" Rory shook his head, memories returning, "I was plastic. He was the stripper at my stag. Evy kissed me! Long story..."

Amy ran over to the TARDIS, knocking on the doors, "Ok, Doctor, Evy. Did I surprise you this time?"

The TARDIS door opened and the Doctor appeared, wearing a top hat and a suit with a white tie and tails, a white scarf loosely draped over his shoulders. The second door opened to reveal Evy grinning, her hair down, wearing a thin-strapped, light red, floor length dress that bunched in the front and fell in waves to the floor.

"Er, yeah," the Doctor nodded, "Completely astonished. Never expected that. How lucky I happened to be wearing this old thing," he stepped out of the TARDIS, holding a hand out to Evy, pulling her out as well.

Evy looked around a moment, "How fortunate I noticed you prefer red," she winked at Amy, glad she'd guessed this as the color scheme for the wedding. Of all the colors Amy colored her nails, she seemed to wear red more often than any other color.

"Hello, everyone!" the Doctor called, pulling Evy to his side.

"We're Amy's imaginary friends!" Evy laughed at their stunned faces.

"But we came anyway," the Doctor walked over to Augustus, shaking his hand as Evy gave Amy's very shocked mother a kiss on the cheek.

"You absolutely, definitely may kiss the bride," Amy strode towards him, very nearly kissing him, when he was pulled away from her.

Evy had pulled him from the side just before Amy reached him, and kissed him herself, turning to Amy, "Tut tut, my boy, you've got your own."

"Quite right!" the Doctor smiled as Rory walked over, "What say we leave the kissing duties to the brand new Mr. Pond!"

"No, I'm not Mr. Pond," Rory shook his head, "That's not how it works."

Evy and the Doctor exchanged a look, "Yeah, it is," they said.

Rory nodded, "Yeah, it is."

"Right then, everyone," the Doctor clapped, "We'll move our box. You're going to need the space…" Evy laughed walking back into the TARDIS with him as the Doctor poked his head out once more, "We only came for the dancing."

~8~

The Doctor was dancing crazily to Queen's 'Crazy Little Thing Called Love' as Amy laughed at him. Evy and Rory were watching from the side of the room. The Doctor had tried to pull Evy in to dance with him…but the last time _that_ happened they'd been chased across a planet because the locals believed they'd called down a swarm of intergalactic locusts.

She wasn't about to take that chance again, especially not at Amy and Rory's wedding, that would be the _last_ thing the couple needed.

"You're terrible!" Amy laughed, "That is embarrassing!"

~8~

One crazy dance that Evy _did_ participate in was when the children all ran up to dance with the not-imaginary imaginary friends, "That's it!" she laughed, standing behind the kids helping them dance like the Doctor, "That's good!"

"Keep it loose," the Doctor called, spinning around and wiggling his arms in the air.

Amy and Rory looked on and laughed, just watching.

~8~

A slow dance was playing, James Morrison's 'You Give Me Something,' the Doctor and Evy dancing alongside Amy and Rory, "I'm glad to see you can still dance a waltz," Evy remarked as she laid her head on the Doctor's chest, "Your last incarnation was quiet a good dancer…what happened?"

"Oi!" he nudged her lightly, a smile on his face though, "Watch it Miss I-Can-Only-Draw-Stick-Figures!"

She laughed, shaking her head as she pulled back to look up at him, the two of them just staring into each other's eyes as they danced on.

"You know," he commented lightly, "Amy was right about the Pandorica being just like Pandora's Box."

"How so?"

He just smiled at her, "Well, right in the beginning…it was a container for the Universe's greatest fear…" he brushed a strand of hair from her face, "And its greatest hope."

She just leaned forward and gave him a long, sweet kiss, both to tell him she didn't think he represented the evils of the Universe in the least and to thank him for believing she was the hope at the bottom of the box.

He pulled away, all the love he felt for her shining in his eyes, mirrored by Evy's as she looked at him. He took her hand and led her off the dance floor, pausing at the door to look back at Mr. and Mrs. Pond.

"2,000 years," Evy smiled softly, watching them, "The _boy_ who waited."

The Doctor pulled her back against him, "Good on you, mate," he whispered for Rory.

They turned and walked out, heading back to the TARDIS, the Doctor just getting his key in the lock when someone spoke behind them, "Did you dance?" River asked as they turned to face her, "Well, you always dance at weddings, don't you?"

"You tell us," the Doctor smiled, holding Evy's hand.

"Spoilers," River smirked.

Evy held out the blue TARDIS journal, handing it back to her, "Everything's back and I made sure he didn't peek," she nudged the Doctor.

River laughed, "Thank you."

The Doctor handed her the Manipulator as well, "Are you married, River?" he asked, thinking about the wedding.

"Are you asking?" River grinned, slipping the Manipulator on.

"Yes."

River glanced at Evy, smirking, "Yes."

"No, hang on," he cut in, getting flustered, "Did you think _I_ was asking you to marry me, o-o-or asking if _you_ were married?"

"Yes."

"No, but was that 'yes,' or 'yes?'" the Doctor shook his head, he'd just confused himself.

"Yes."

Evy laughed, putting a reassuring hand on the Doctor's arm, "Who are you River Song?"

The smile on River's face became a bit more sad, "You're going to find out very soon now. And I'm sorry, but that's when everything changes," she pushed a button and disappeared.

The Doctor turned to Evy, frantic now, "You _do_ know I wasn't asking her to marry me right? Because I wasn't. I love you, and…and _just_ you and…"

Evy cut him off with a kiss, laughing at his stunned expression, before turning to finish unlocking the TARDIS and walked in. He followed after her, a grin now on his face, before he pulled her arm, spinning her to face him as they danced their way over to the console. Evy laughed more, spinning away a final time to start working the controls with him.

"Oi!" Amy shouted, opening the door and walking in, "Where are you off to?"

Rory followed her in, shutting the door behind him, "Amy!"

"What? It's my wedding."

"OUR wedding."

"Sorry, you two...shouldn't have slipped away," the Doctor apologized, "Bit busy, you know?"

"You just saved the whole of space and time. Take the evening off. Maybe a bit of tomorrow."

"Space and time isn't safe just yet," Evy told them sadly, "The TARDIS exploded for a _reason_. Something pulled the TARDIS to this day and blew it up."

The phone began to ring.

"Why?" the Doctor asked, "And why now? The silence, whatever it is, is still out there, and we have to..."

"Get the phone love," Evy said.

"Excuse me a moment," the Doctor turned and answered the phone, not seeing Amy smirk or make a whipping motion to Rory who chuckled, "Hello. Oh! Hello. I'm sorry, this is a very bad line. No, but that's not possible. She was sealed into the Seventh Obelisk. We were at the prayer meeting. Well, no, we get that it's important. An Egyptian goddess loose on the Orient Express…in space! Give us a mo," he turned to Amy and Rory, "Sorry, something's come up. This will have to be goodbye."

"Yeah, I think it's goodbye," Amy looked at Rory, "Do you think it's goodbye?"

"Definitely goodbye," Rory smiled.

Amy strode over to the door, opening it and waving out, "Goodbye! Goodbye," she closed the door, turning back to them with a smile.

The Doctor turned back to the phone, his hand absently playing with Evy's fingers held in his own, "Don't worry about a thing, Your Majesty. We're on our way."

Amy and Rory grabbed a hold of the console as Evy flipped a switch and they were off!

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have to say, this wedding made me think of The Wedding of River Song episode, I will say this, it will not be a 'wedding,' but we will see something come out of it for River. I also hope it was believable to stick both the Doctor and Evy in the Pandorica, I figure here, the Daleks and the other enemies are now aware that the Doctor has his Link with him and they would want both of them locked away. In the Academic Series, it was more about locking the Doctor away while restraining the Professor and making her powerless to stop them/save him, a far worse prison.
> 
> And, wow, there's only 4 chapters left of this series! We've just got two parts of A Christmas Carol (which I loved writing), then the SJA The Death of the Doctor (the dynamic-changer), and an original chapter before Series 5 is over and we get Series 6 and the Silence! I've got big things planned for Series 6, lots of emotion, fears, struggles, and lots of love too :)
> 
> Next chapter...someone is outdone by a paper clip. Evy turns into a cackling madwoman. Are the fish really biting the Doctor?


	21. A Christmas Carol (Part 1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Sigh- the 5 stories are still up on Wattpad, no removal yet :/ So much for the claims of Ashiraa- that 'if she asks me to take them down I'll do so immediately' it's been days now :/

A space liner flew through the clouds of a distant planet, storms around them, lightning striking everywhere. It was crashing. The captain, her assistant, and the pilot were all in alarm as they fought to gain control of the ship, when they noticed a distress call had been sent from the honeymoon suite.

Suddenly the doors to the cabin opened and none other than Amy Pond walked in, dressed as a policewoman, her infamous kissogram outfit. The captain, assistant, and pilot all turned to look at her, "I sent for help," she told them.

"Who the hell are you?" the captain asked.

"Look they're friends of mine ok? And they can help. They'll come."

The captain just looked at her outfit, "And what are you wearing?"

Amy tugged at her skirt, trying to laugh it off, "…that doesn't matter."

"Are you in the honeymoon suite?" the captain continued, realizing why she might be dressed that way.

Amy very nearly blushed, "Shut up."

Just then the brand new Mr. Pond stumbled into the room, dressed as a roman centurion, with a large blocky device in his hand, an antenna sticking out of it, "Amy!" Rory shouted, going over to her, "The light stopped flashing does that mean they're coming?"

"Honeymoon suite," the assistant nodded.

"Oh the clothes…" Rory looked down at himself, "Um, it is just a bit of fun…"

"Really!" Amy called, "Shut up!"

"Storms have penetrated the central hold!" the pilot reported.

"So does this mean they're coming?" Rory continued, looking down at the device Evy had given them as he moved around to stand before Amy, "Or does this mean I need to change the bulb?"

"They'll come!" Amy told him, "They always come."

"Well they are cutting it kind of tight!"

"If we can't stabilize the orbit we're finished!" the captain cried out.

"There's nothing to lock on to!" the pilot shouted, "I am flying blind."

The ship jolted as they continued to crash.

"Come on Doctor," Amy breathed, "Come on Evy!"

"There's something come alongside us!" the pilot called, "Something small, like a shuttle."

"Just _once_ don't be late."

"Incoming message," the assistant announced, "From the other ship."

"On screen," the captain ordered.

The assistant brought up a sort of screen over their main window, a projection showing a small message at the top:

Come Along Ponds!

Amy and Rory nearly laughed, seeing the TARDIS zoom by in the heart of the storm.

"What does that mean?" the captain frowned.

Amy just smiled, "It's Christmas!"

~8~

Evy had disappeared for a bit as the Doctor worked on 'fixing' the TARDIS, with only the excuse that she was working on a surprise for him and not to peek. So, he focused on the TARDIS to distract himself and keep him from being tempted. He'd gotten far more than he bargained for in terms of distractions when a device Evy had rigged up to keep in touch with Rory and Amy began to go off with them calling for help.

Evy had come running and they were both trying to get the TARDIS to land on the ship…unfortunately, the ship was falling far too quickly and moving too much for them to get a proper lock on it. They were able to get a reading off the ship and the area around it and discovered that it was the cloud belt they were trapped in that was causing their problems. They were also able to get a reading off the cloud belt itself that pointed to some sort of control harnessing the power of the sky.

Evy had immediately started tracking the energy signals and they landed on the roof of a large building overlooking a rather high-tech village with Victorian themes. The building was in the center of town with a large dome on top and a spire of purple energy shooting out of it, the clouds swarming around it…yes…definitely the source of the cloud disturbance.

As soon as the Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS, and saw a chimney only a few feet away, Evy knew she was in trouble. He took off for it, half diving down into as she ran over shouting, "Oh, don't _do_ that!"

But it was too late, he'd already jumped through.

She sighed, walking back to the TARDIS and re-landing inside the house in some room. She opened the doors to see the Doctor pick himself up off the floor of the main sitting room where he'd rolled out of the chimney, covered in soot. There was a small family of four standing there, an old man, and a few servants, all staring as the Doctor coughed.

"Ah…yes…blimey," he looked up, noticing the people stood around him, "Sorry, Christmas Eve on a rooftop, saw a chimney, my whole brain just went 'what the hell!'"

"Really?" Evy asked, stepping into the room, "My brain went, 'you're an idiot!'" she walked over and began to help him dust off, ignoring the people staring at her now too.

"How'd you get in here?" he asked, looking behind him at the chimney and then over at her pristine clothes.

"We _do_ have a TARDIS that can land _indoors_ you know, and I wasn't about to get another outfit dirty," he looked at her tan coat and pants, tucked into black boots, with a red button down shirt, "Besides, this is my favorite jacket."

He just laughed and got a look in his eye that she knew meant trouble. Before she could react he reached out and pulled her into a hug, getting her dirty anyway.

"Thanks," she rolled her eyes, not actually all that mad. It was hard to be mad at him so near Christmas.

He looked behind her, seeing the children staring at them, "Don't worry…" he walked over towards them as Evy tried to brush the soot off her pants, "Fat fella will be doing the rounds later," he shook their hands, "We're just scoping out the general chimneyness. Yes!" he clapped and turned back, heading towards the chimney and patted it, resting his hand against it as he leaned, "Nice size. Good traction…" he pulled his hand away suddenly as the chimney was still rather hot from the fire that had just been in it, "Big tick."

Evy took his hand and looked at it, making sure it wasn't badly burned. It looked fine.

"Fat fella?" the father of the family frowned and shook his head, confused.

"Father Christmas," Evy replied as she and the Doctor walked back over to the family. They still looked confused, "Santa Claus?" she tried another name.

"Or as we've always known him," the Doctor smiled, "Jeff."

"There's no such person as Father Christmas," the son replied.

"Oh yeah?" the Doctor whipped out a black and white photo of him and Evy, sitting, with three people standing behind them, "Us and Father Christmas."

"I remember that!" Evy looked at the picture, "Frank Sinatra's hunting lodge, 1952."

"See him in the back with the blonde?" the Doctor pointed, "Albert Einstein, the five of us together. Watch out!" he put it away, "Ok?" the boy smiled and nodded, "Keep the faith."

"Don't be naughty," Evy smiled as the Doctor turned around.

"Oh, now what's this then?" he asked. She looked over to see him running towards a device with a monitor in the middle, gauges above it and valves on either side, "I love this. A big flashly lighty thing, that's what brought us here," he looked over at Evy who went to join him, "Big flashy lighty things have got me written all over them. Not actually…" he continued to ramble as Evy examined the machine with her sonic. He sat down and spun to face the people still staring at them, "Give me time and a crayon. Now! This big flashy lighty thing is connected to the spire in your dome yeah?" he looked back at the old man, sensing he was in charge. Evy just shook her head at him, "And it controls the sky…"

"It actually controls the clouds," Evy corrected, sitting in the chair as the Doctor got up and walked towards the old man, "Which aren't _really_ clouds."

"Well, they're clouds of tiny particles of ice," he agreed as he walked past the man and towards the family, "Ice clouds…" he pointed at the daughter, "Love that."

"Who's she?" Evy asked, frowning at the large, frozen container with a very lovely blonde woman trapped in it, in stasis.

"Nobody important," the old man replied.

Evy and the Doctor exchanged a look before both of them made their way over to the box to look inside, getting a closer view of the woman, "Nobody important?" Evy shook her head, that was impossible.

"Blimey that's amazing," the Doctor commented, "Do you know in 900 years of time and space I've never met anyone who wasn't important before," he turned to look meaningfully at the old man before running back to the controls of the 'big flashy lighty thing,' "Now! This console is the key to saving that ship…" he leaned down to examine it as Evy walked back over to him, after giving one last look at the woman in the box, "I'll eat my hat…if I had a hat. I'll eat someone's hat, not someone who's using their hat, wouldn't want to shock a nun or something..."

"The machine," Evy remarked, getting him back on track as she leaned against the wall beside him.

"Sorry rambling," he cut himself off, "'Cos…'cos this isn't working!" he threw his hands up, frustrated.

"The controls are isomorphic," Evy told him as the old man opened his mouth.

The man gave her a hard look before walking towards them, "One to one," he agreed, "They respond only to me."

The Doctor looked at him, "You fibber!" he turned back to the machine, muttering, "Isomorphic…there's no such thing."

"My brother," Evy deadpanned, "On the _Valiant_. With a laser screwdriver. Ringing any bells?"

"Nope, none at all," he replied, but she could tell he was lying.

The old man reached past him, tapping a switch, turning off the device, and then turning it back on.

The Doctor looked at him a moment before reaching out to the same switch, but it just beeped, not doing anything. He tried it again, flipping it quickly, but still nothing. He pulled out his sonic, scanning the switch and then the old man, looking at his results.

"The controls are isomorphic, aren't they?" Evy raised an eyebrow, amused.

"Yes…" he replied slowly, "Yes, they are."

"The skies of this entire world are mine," the old man told them, "My family tamed them and now I own them."

"Tamed the sky?" Evy laughed, the whole idea was a bit ridiculous to her.

"What does _that_ mean?" the Doctor asked.

The old man just turned and walked off, "It means I'm Kazran Sardick. How could you possibly not know who I am?"

"I sippose we're just easily bored," Evy commented, not too fond of the man.

The children smiled at that.

"So, we need _your_ help then," the Doctor clapped and walked towards Kazran.

"Make an appointment," Kazran waved him off.

"There are 4,003 people trapped in your cloud belt in a spaceship," Evy frowned at him, pushing herself away from the wall to stand beside the Doctor, facing the man, "They'll die without your help."

"Yes," Kazran smiled, as though he didn't see the problem.

"You don't have to let that happen," the Doctor told him.

"I know, but I'm going to," Kazran sneered at them, "Bye bye, bored now. Check!" the servants rushed forward, ushering the family out as another two servants grabbed the Doctor and Evy's arms to pull them along, but they managed to break free, storming over to Kazran as he sat in his chair by the fire, "Oh, look at you, looking all tough now."

"There are 4,003 people we won't allow to die tonight," the Doctor looked down at him, "Do you know where that puts you?"

"Where?" Kazran asked, not sounding remotely interested.

"4,004," Evy answered.

"Was that a sort of threaty thing?" he smirked, not scared in the slightest.

The Doctor looked at Evy who just frowned at the man before returning his attention back to Kazran, "Whatever happens tonight remember, you brought it on yourself."

"Yeah, yeah, right," Kazran rolled his eyes, "Get them out of here!" he waved at his servants who came forward and grabbed their arms, pulling them away once more, "And next time try to find me some funny poor people."

The servants resumed ushering the family out the door when the small boy broke free. He ran forward and grabbed a lump of coal that had rolled across the room from the chimney and threw it straight at Kazran, hitting him in the head.

"I like him," Evy remarked, smiling at the boy's action.

But then Kazran jumped to his feet and nearly ran across the room, lifting the back of his hand, ready to strike the boy.

"No!" Evy shouted

"Stop!" the Doctor struggled in the servant's grip, "Stop!"

"No!" the father cried, "You leave him!"

Kazran hesitated a moment, staring down at the child as though trying to muster the nerve to strike him but was unable to. He lowered his hand…

The Doctor and Evy exchanged curious looks, watching as Kazran stepped back, "Get them out of here!" he nearly growled, glaring at the family and the boy, "Get that foul smelling family out of here! Out!" the family was forced from the room as Kazran turned around to head back to his chair, when he paused. He looked over his shoulder to see the Doctor and Evy still standing there, "What? What do you want?"

They just looked at him a moment.

"A simple life," the Doctor answered.

"You didn't hit him," Evy eyed him.

"Well I will next time!" Kazran spat.

Evy shook her head, "No, I don't think you will."

"Now why?" the Doctor looked past him, staring off into space, "What are we missing?"

"Get out!" Kazran shouted as they slowly walked past him, more into the room, "Get out of this house!"

"Chairs," the Doctor breathed as Evy looked over to see a portrait of an older man who bore a striking resemblance to Kazran hanging on the wall, "Of course the chairs, stupid me, the chairs!"

"The chairs?" Kazran muttered, watching as Evy went to stand in front of the portrait.

"There's a portrait on the wall behind me," the Doctor began staring past Kazran, looking though Evy's eyes at the painting.

"He looks just like you," Evy remarked, examining the date, "But it was painted too long ago. Must be your father."

"All the chairs are angled away from it. Daddy's been dead for twenty years but you still can't get comfortable where he can see you. There's a Christmas tree in the painting, but none in this house on Christmas Eve."

"You're _scared_ ," Evy realized, turning around and walking over to them, "You're scared of him, of being like him."

"Good for you. You're not like him. Not really, do you know why?"

"Why?" Kazran gasped as lightning flashed behind him.

Evy smiled gently, "Because you _didn't_ hit that little boy."

Kazran looked down.

"Merry Christmas Mr. Sardick," the Doctor smiled as well.

"I _despise_ Christmas!" he shouted, glaring at them.

"You shouldn't!" the Doctor called, taking Evy's hand and walking with her towards the door, "It's very you."

"It's what?" Kazran shook his head, turning around to face them, "What do you mean?"

"Halfway out of the dark," Evy replied as they stopped to look at him.

Kazran's eyes widened, realizing they were talking about what he'd been saying just before the Doctor fell out of the chimney. They had heard every word.

He looked down as the servants entered, the Doctor and Evy walking out the door past them, "Get her downstairs with the others!" he shouted as they left, "And clean up this mess!"

The pair heard him shouting orders left and right as they stepped out of the house, when something beeped in Evy's pocket. She pulled out a small sort of narrow flip phone and opened it.

"Have you got a plan yet?" Amy asked as soon as the line was open.

"Yes we do," the Doctor replied.

"Evy…is he lying?"

Evy laughed, "Of course he is."

"Oi!" the Doctor turned to her.

"Just remember Amy, there's never a plan when it comes to him."

"Don't treat me like an idiot Doctor," Amy threatened.

"Was he lying?" Rory asked in the background.

"Ha…no, no," Amy chuckled nervously to him.

"Ok," the Doctor cut in, "The good news, we've tracked the machine that unlocks the clouds belt. We could use it to clear you a flight corridor, and you could land easily."

"Well, hey, hey, that's great news," Amy replied.

"But…we can't control the machine."

"Less great."

"We did meet a man who could though," Evy told her.

"Ah, well, there you go!"

"And now he sort of hates us."

"Was I because the Doctor was being all charming and clever?"

"Yup," she popped the p.

"How did you know?" the Doctor asked, stunned.

"Lucky guess," Evy could almost hear the eye roll in Amy's words.

"Sir?" the father from before called, stepping over to them, "Ma'am?"

"Hang on," the Doctor muttered into the comm., pulling it down so they could give the man their attention.

"I've never seen anyone stand up to Mr. Sardick like that," the father said, reaching out to shake their hands, "Bless you sir, ma'am, and Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas," Evy smiled at him.

"Yes, Merry Christmas," the Doctor nodded, "Lovely. Sorry, bit busy…" he held up the device.

"You better get inside though," the man warned, "The fog's thick tonight and there's a fish warning."

"Yeah…" he nodded, before shaking his head, "Sorry, fish?"

"Yeah," the man agreed, "You know what they're like when they get a bit hungry."

"Yes we know what fish can be like," Evy cut in, that was another adventure with the Doctor that had gone wrong, "But what do you mean by a 'fish warning?'"

"All Mr. Sardick's fault I reckon," the man pointed up at the spire as they looked up at the lightning around it, "He always lets a few fish through the cloud layer when he's in a bad mood," he sighed, pulling down the goggles he wore on his hat and shook their hands again, "Thank you. Bless you once again," he walked off, leaving both the Doctor and Evy rather confused.

"Fish?" the Doctor frowned.

"Doctor!" Amy's voice shouted over the comm., "The captain says we've got less than an hour. What should we be doing?"

"Fish!" Evy breathed. The Doctor turned to see her staring at a small group of tiny fish actually _swimming in the air_ around a light post behind them.

"Sorry what?"

"Fish that can swim in fog…" the Doctor said as they walked towards the post, "I _love_ new planets!" he grinned at Evy, "Like you love period trips, and this is both! Oh, this is Christmas!"

"It really is," Evy murmured, eyeing the fish. It literally was very nearly Christmas.

"Doctor, please, don't get distracted," Amy called, "Evy, please, don't let him get distracted."

"Too late…" Evy remarked as the Doctor stood, staring at the fish…though she had to admit she was a bit curious as well.

"Now why would people be frightened of you tiny little fellas?" the Doctor reached out a hand, wiggling his fingers at them as a few swam over and tried to nibble on them, "You sweet little fishy, wishys…" they swam back to the light.

"Doctor…" Evy began, frowning as she looked at the fish, "If those _tiny_ fish swim in the _fog_ …what's in the _cloud cover_?"

"…ooh" his eyes widened, he pulled up the comm., "Careful up there."

"Oh, oh, great thanks Doctor," Amy said sarcastically, "Because there was a real danger and we were all gonna nod off…" the Doctor held the comm. away as Amy shouted, "We've got less than an hour!"

"We know," Evy replied, looking back at a clock that just turned to 11 pm.

The speakers on the light posts turned on and began to play a sort of Christmas song.

"Doctor!" Amy yelled, "Evy! How are you getting us off here?"

"Oh just…give us a minute," the Doctor called back, hitting his forehead with his hand. Evy walked over to him and took his hand so he couldn't do it again. He squeezed it looking at her.

"Right then, no TARDIS," she began, helping him work through the problem at hand, "It can't get a proper lock on the ship."

He nodded, "So that ship needs to land, but it can't land unless a very bad man suddenly decides to turn nice just in time for Christmas day."

"I can't hear you!" Amy called, "What is that? Is that singing?"

"A Christmas carol."

"A what?"

"A Christmas carol," Evy repeated a bit louder.

"A what?"

"A Christmas carol!" the Doctor shouted. He froze, his eyes widening as an idea struck him. He looked over at Evy, sending her his plan.

She blinked and smiled, "That could work!"

"Doctor?" Amy asked, "Evy?"

"Kazran Sardick…" the Doctor looked up at the spire.

"Doctor!" Amy shouted.

He just smiled, "Merry Christmas Kazran Sardick."

~8~

They used the TARDIS's databanks to pull up a rather old recording of a rather young Kazran Sardick. It was in pretty bad shape, though, as it was quite old and seemed to have been forgotten for quite a while. Evy had had a lot of work to do on it to get it to actually play with sound. The Doctor then slipped into Kazran's home to see the old man asleep on the chair and stuck the recording into a projection box on the table beside him.

They watched in silence as Kazran woke up to see the projection of something he'd recorded as a child playing. The child spoke of the fish and how they seemed to like singing when his father stormed into the room and began to argue with him about how silly the idea was. The child tried to stand up to him, to say that he wanted to see the fish, that singing _could_ work, and they didn't have to be afraid of them anymore.

Evy flinched as the father struck his son. The Doctor took her hand as the child began to apologize to his father, crying as the father ignored him and continued to belittle him. It was a horrible thing to watch and seemed to be just as terrible for Kazran to relive as well. They slowly made their way over to him.

The Doctor rested a hand on the man's shoulder, "It's ok…" Kazran jumped back, spinning to face them, "It's ok…"

"What have you done?" he demanded, glaring at them, "What is this?" he pointed at the projection, still playing.

"Found it on an old drive."

"The picture quality isn't the best, sorry about that," Evy added, "I had to cover the data using quantum and folding…"

"…and a paperclip," the Doctor finished, smugly. He'd been _insisting_ that the paperclip would work and Evy had been arguing it wouldn't. She'd grown frustrated and finally used it to prove him wrong, only to be proven wrong herself. He sat down on the chair Kazran had gotten out of.

"Yes, and a paperclip," she sighed, walking over to stand beside him, only for him to tug her down onto his lap, still grinning as he opened up a newspaper for them both to look at. Kazran looked at the projection box before hurrying around the table towards the bell to alert his servants, "Don't bother," she remarked but he rang the bell anyway, "All your servants quit."

Kazran looked at them, stunned.

"Apparently they won the lottery at exactly the same time…" the Doctor commented, "Which is a bit lucky when you think about it."

"There isn't a lottery," Kazran replied.

"Yea, as I said…" the Doctor looked up at him over the newspaper, "Lucky…"

Kazran glanced at the projection once more, seeing himself as a child, crying in his room, before looking over at the Doctor and Evy once more, "Who are you?"

"Tonight…we're the Ghosts of Christmas Past."

Kazran looked at the projection again, slowly walking towards it as his father left the room.

"Did you ever get to see a fish?" Evy asked quietly, "Back then, when you were a kid?"

"What does that matter to you?" Kazran snapped.

"Look," Evy nodded at the screen, "It clearly mattered to _you_."

"I cried all night. And I learned life's most invaluable lesson."

"Which is?" the Doctor asked, getting up with Evy and walking to stand in front of the projection, facing Kazran.

"Nobody comes," he sneered, "Get out! Get out of my house!"

The Doctor jumped back, taking Evy's hand and pulling her back from the fuming old man, "Ok…ok," he held up his hands in surrender, "But we'll be back…" he glanced at Evy who nodded, "Way back," they turned and walked over to the main doors to the room, opening them to reveal the TARDIS sitting there. Evy went over and opened the doors to the box as the Doctor looked back at Kazran, "Way, _way_ back."

They stepped into the TARDIS and disappeared…reappearing at the exact moment they had left Kazran watching on the projection…the young Kazran's bedroom as he cried at his desk. They watched through the window as young Kazran looked up and over at them.

"See?" the Doctor called, knowing the event was still being recorded and the older Kazran would be seeing this as it happened, "Back?"

He opened the window as Kazran turned to face them, "Who are you?"

"Hi!" the Doctor shouted, "I'm the Doctor and this is Evy and we're your new babysitters!" he jumped out of the window and into the room, turning to catch Evy as she jumped down as well.

"Where's Mrs. Mantovani?" Kazran asked, trying to quickly wipe his eyes.

Evy frowned and walked over to him, drying his tears with a handkerchief as the Doctor went to stand on the bed frame, "Ah, you'll never guess," he jumped onto the bed and kept jumping up and down, "Clever old Mrs. Manters went and won the lottery."

"There isn't any lottery," Kazran sniffled. Evy gave him a side hug, which seemed to brighten him up just a bit.

"We know! What a woman!" he jumped off the bed and over to Evy, pulling her into a hug himself and spinning her around, making her laugh.

Kazran just watched, stunned by them, "If you're my babysitters, why are you climbing in the window?"

"'Cos if we were climbing _out_ of the window we'd be going in the wrong direction. Pay attention."

"But Mrs. Mantovani's always my babysitter."

"Times change," Evy smiled, turning to lean in front of the recorder, "Don't you agree?"

"See?" the Doctor called as Evy stepped back, "Christmas _past_."

"Who are you talking to?" Kazran asked cautiously, fearing for their sanity.

"You," the Doctor grinned.

Evy rolled her eyes and nudged him out of the way, leaning down to look at the recorder again, "Your past is going to start changing so your memory will change too."

"Bit scary," the Doctor nudged her as well, "But you'll get the hang of it."

"I don't understand," Kazran shook his head.

"Oh, I bet you don't!" the Doctor turned to the child sitting there, "I wish I could see your face…" he started pointing back and forth between the child and the recorder before grabbing Evy and running back to the bed. He jumped, falling onto his back, taking Evy with him, the both of them laughing. Evy rolled off of him, onto her elbows, as the Doctor sat up with a clap, "Right then, your bedroom! Great! Let's see, you're 12 years old so…" he began to tug up a sheet hanging over the side of the bed before Evy reached out and motioned for him to drop it.

"I'd stay away from under the bed if I were you," she said.

"Cupboard!" the Doctor cried, noticing a door a little ways off, "Big cupboard!" he grabbed Evy's hand, pulling her off the bed and over to it with him, "I love a cupboard. Lots of things you can do in a…hmmm…" he cleared his throat, glancing at Evy with a blush as she laughed at the memory of the last time they'd been caught in a cupboard. He threw the doors open and looked inside, "Do you know, there's a thing called a face spider? Just like a tiny baby's head except with spider legs, and it's specifically evolved to scuttle up the backs of bedroom cupboards…ow!"

Evy smacked him on the head, giving him a meaningful look as he turned to glance at her, rubbing his head. "Face spiders?" she hissed quietly, nodding back at Kazran who looked just the tiniest bit scared.

"Yeah…" he winced, turning to face Kazran, "I probably _shouldn't_ have mentioned that. Right, so!" he walked over to Kazran again, pacing as he tried to figure out what they should do. Evy went and sat on the bed to watch, "What are we going to do? Eat crisps and talk about girls?" Evy raised an eyebrow at that, "I've never actually done that, but I bet it's easy. I mean, I could go on and on about Evy here…" he glanced at her, "She's just brilliant. Could probably talk for years but what about you? Girls? Yeah?"

Kazran eyed him skeptically, "Are you _really_ a babysitter?" the woman, he could believe, but the man…

The Doctor looked almost offended, "I think you'll find I'm universally recognized as a mature and responsible adult," he held up the psychic paper.

Evy started cracking up at that, actually rolling on the bed with laughter, holding her sides at the blatant lie.

The Doctor mock glared at her before turning back to Kazran, "Just says ignore the cackling madwoman on the bed."

Kazran looked up at him from the paper, "It's just a lot of wavy lines."

The Doctor looked at it as Evy got up to see it as well, wiping a tear from her eye, "Yep," she nodded, looking over his shoulder at the paper, "You shorted it out. You've finally done it, told a lie too big for the poor thing to handle."

He stuck out his tongue at her, only emphasizing her point, before putting the paper away, "No," he crouched down to face Kazran, "Not _really_ babysitters, but it's Christmas Eve, you don't want a real one. You want us!"

"Why?" Kazran frowned, "What's so special about you?"

"Have you ever seen 'Mary Poppins?'" he asked, getting up.

"No."

"Good," Evy cut in as the Doctor turned to speak, "That would have been a rubbish comparison," she walked over to the Doctor, who was pouting, "I think we'd be _much better_ than _that_ ," she smiled at him, giving him a peck for extra measure.

The Doctor grinned, clapping his hands before turning to the window, "Fish in the fog, fish in the clouds," he turned to Evy as he jumped into the window, "How do people ever get bored?" he held out a hand to her.

"How did boredom even get invented in the first place?" Evy agreed, taking his hand and standing beside him in the open window.

"My dad's invented a machine," Kazran called, getting up and walking to stand beside his bed, looking up at them, "To control the cloud belt. Tame the sky he says. The fish'll be able to come down, but only when we let them. We can charge whatever we like."

"Yeah," Evy nodded, "We took a look at your dad's machine."

"What? You can't have."

The Doctor looked over his shoulder, out the window, a moment and then back at Kazran, "Tame the sky…" he mumbled, "Human beings…you always manage to find the boring alternative don't you? You want to see one? A fish?" Kazran smiled, "We can do that. We can see a fish."

He frowned, "But aren't you going to tell me it's dangerous?"

Evy snorted, "Him?" she nodded at the Doctor, "Tell you it's dangerous? And then let that _stop_ him?" she laughed quite loudly at that.

The Doctor rolled his eyes at her before jumping out of the window again, "Dangerous?" he turned and held out a hand, helping Evy back in as well, "Come on, we're boys and you know what boys say in the face of danger…"

"What?" Kazran asked.

The Doctor turned to face him, "Mummy," he said, very seriously, before pausing a moment, "Or, in my case, Evy," he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her back against him, "Trust me, with Evy around, we'll both be safe," he gave her a little kiss on the cheek.

Kazran smiled.

~8~

They were sitting in the cupboard, the Doctor in the middle with Evy on his right and Kazran on his left, the recorder sitting before them. He had a bit of string tied in a loop around his finger as they sat and waited. The string went outside to a hook on the ceiling where his sonic was dangling as a lure for the fish.

"Are there any face spiders in here?" Kazran looked around nervously.

"No," Evy told him reassuringly, "Of course not."

"Not at this time of night," the Doctor agreed, "They'll all be sleeping in your mattress…ow!"

Evy smacked him again, "He means, they don't exist on this planet," she turned to Kazran after giving the Doctor a meaningful look, promising him another smack if he countered what she was going to say, even if it wasn't true, "They can't survive in fog, so you're safe."

The Doctor swallowed hard, "So why are you so interested in the fish?" he changed the topic.

"'Cos they're scary?" Kazran shrugged.

"Good answer," the Doctor smiled. Evy rolled her eyes at them, boys.

"What kind of tie is that?" Kazran asked, his own attempt to change the topic.

"A cool one."

"Why is it cool?"

"Why are you _really_ interested in fish?"

Kazran sighed, "My school, during the last fog belt, one of the nets broke and there was an attack. Loads of them. A whole shoal. No one was hurt but…it was the most fish ever seen below the mountains."

"You must have been scared," Evy remarked softly.

"I wasn't there," he replied glumly, "I was out sick."

"Ooh, lucky you," the Doctor nodded, before seeing Kazran look down, sad, "Not lucky?"

Kazran looked up, "It's all anyone ever talks about now. The day the fish came. Everyone's got a story."

"Everyone except you," Evy nodded, understanding.

The Doctor looked over at the recorder, "We see that now."

"Why are you recording this?" Kazran asked.

"Do you pay attention at school Kazran?" the Doctor asked suddenly.

"Sorry, what?"

Evy smiled, "You're not paying attention _now_ …" she nodded at the Doctor's finger which was being tugged by the string.

"Shh," the Doctor held a finger to his lips as he and Evy slowly got up and leaned against the door.

"Are you sure?" Kazran whispered.

"Trust us."

"Ok…" Kazran replied slowly, clearly not too trusting.

"Oi!" the Doctor turned to him, handing the string to Evy to hold, "Eyes on the tie, look at me. I wear it and I don't care," he grinned, "And Evy thinks I look smashing in it so that helps," he laughed, looking down at Kazran, "Trust me?"

"Yes," he smiled and nodded.

" _That's_ why it's cool," Evy added, smiling softly at the Doctor. She loved how amazing he was with children.

They glanced over at the recording before sliding out of the cupboard, shutting the door behind them. There was a small fish floating in the air before the sonic, trying to nibble on it as it dangled there.

"Hello fishy," the Doctor smiled, circling the edge of the room with Evy, "Let's see…interesting."

Evy quickly scanned the room with her own sonic before putting it away, "Crystalline fog, possibly carrying a tiny electrical charge."

"Is _that_ how you fly little fishy?" the Doctor asked, walking towards it.

"What is it?" Kazran called from the cupboard, "What kind? Can I see it?"

"Just stay in there a little longer," Evy called back as the Doctor leaned over and looked straight at the fish.

"Is it big?"

"Nah, just a little one," the Doctor replied, "So little fella, what do you eat?"

"Doctor!" Evy suddenly yanked him back as a giant shark swooped in through the window and ate the fish, screwdriver and all.

"How little?" Kazran continued, not seeming to have noticed Evy's yell.

"Um…" the Doctor began, grabbing Evy's hand as they both looked straight at the shark.

"Can I come out?"

"No, no," the Doctor called, eyes wide as he tried to maneuver them around the shark, along the wall, and back to the closet, "Maybe just wait there for a moment…"

The shark eyed them as they moved.

"What color is it?" Kazran asked.

"Big," he muttered, "Big color…"

He suddenly jolted towards the cupboard door, yanking Evy in after him as they slammed it shut just as the shark attacked.

"What's happening?" Kazran cried as the door thumped with the shark trying to break it down.

"Well, concentrating on the plusses," the Doctor began, "You've definitely got a story of your own now."

The door thumped again.

"Also," Evy added, "We were able to get a look at the fish. We might understand how the fog works now which will help us land a spaceship in the future, save a lot of lives."

The Doctor smiled, when the door jolted again, "And I better get some very interesting readings off my sonic screwdriver when we get it back from the shark in your bedroom."

"There's a shark in my bedroom?!" Kazran's eyes widened.

"Oh fine, focus on that!" the Doctor muttered as the door banged once more and stopped.

It was silent.

"Has it gone?" Kazran asked, "What's it doing?"

Evy and the Doctor looked at each other before pressing their ears to the door, "What do you call it when you don't have any feet and you're taking a run-up?" the Doctor asked.

Evy pulled him away from the door, the two of them pushing Kazran to the back of the cupboard as the shark slammed at it, actually breaking through the door. They huddled there, on the floor, with the shark looming over them.

"It's going to eat us!" Kazran cried, "It's going to eat us! It's going to eat us...is it going to eat us?"

"Well maybe we're going to eat it," the Doctor countered.

"I really _don't_ like the odds!" Evy shouted as they stared down the mouth of the shark, seeing the glowing green of the sonic from within.

"So let's see, tiny shark…and if I had my screwdriver I could send a pulse and stun it."

Evy quickly began to check her pockets.

"Where's your screwdriver?" Kazran shouted.

"Well, concentrating on the plusses, within reach. You know there's a real chance the way it's wedged in the doorway is keeping its mouth open."

"There is?"

"Just agree with him," Evy said, pulling out her sonic and trying to set the controls.

"Right, good, 'cos I've only got two goes and then it's your turn," the Doctor looked down at Kazran, not about to even suggest Evy try what he was about to.

"Two goes?" the boy frowned.

"Two arms!" the Doctor held up his arms, "Right then…ok. Geronimo. Open wide!"

He lunged at the shark, only for it to slump a moment before his arm reached it. He stopped short, staring at the creature as it hung limply in the doorway, sliding to the floor now that it was relaxed. He looked back at Evy to see her holding out her sonic.

She gave him a smirk, blowing on the end of it as though it were a smoking gun. She twirled it through her fingers and put it back in her pocket.

The Doctor just laughed, pulling her up, and kissing her.

~8~

They had managed to get the shark outside Kazran's room through the window and lay it on the ground. It had coughed up half of the Doctor's sonic only moments ago and the Doctor took right to fiddling with it as he and Evy knelt beside the beast, Kazran sitting on the other side of it.

"What's the big fishy done to you?" the Doctor lamented, looking at the little bit of sonic left, as he got up and walked away, Evy following, "Swallowed half of you that's what…half a screwdriver…" he looked over at Evy, "What use is that? Bad big fishy," he scolded.

"Doctor?" Kazran called, "Evy?" they turned to him, "I think she's dying."

They walked over to kneel by the shark again, the Doctor attempting to scan it, but it was useless. Evy pulled out her sonic again and scanned instead, "Half my screwdriver's still inside," the Doctor commented as Evy looked at the results, "But yeah, we think so."

"They can't survive long outside the cloud belt," Evy looked up at the sky from the results, "Just long enough for quick raiding trip…"

They looked over at Kazran to see him crying, "Can't we get it back up there?" he asked, "We were just gonna stun it, I didn't want to kill it."

"She was trying to _eat_ you," the Doctor said.

"She was _hungry_."

"I'm sorry Kazran," Evy sighed, looking at him, "We can't save her from here. If we could take her back up there she'd have a better chance, but in her condition she wouldn't survive the trip without a fully functioning life support of some sort."

"You mean like an ice-box?" he asked, brightening with hope, "Ok!"

He quickly jumped to his feet and ran out of the room, the Doctor and Evy following behind as he led them down the stairs. He walked over to a table to get a lamp when the Doctor became distracted by a rather large Christmas tree.

"Ooh!" he shouted, running over to it, "Tree! Good tree!"

Evy just shook her head fondly and walked over to him, pulling him away from it as Kazran led them to another set of stairs. They went down it to find themselves at a rather large, very thick, sealed door. They peered through a small window to see a room filled with row upon row of ice-boxes with people inside.

The Doctor frowned, "What is this?"

"The surplus population," Kazran remarked sadly, "That's what my dad calls it…" he grabbed a wheel on the door, trying to open it, "Oh, it's not turning…turn!"

The Doctor tried to sonic the keypad by the door, but it still didn't work.

"It's broken Doctor," Evy smiled gently at him, she stepped up and flashed her sonic, "And anyway, it's deadlocked."

"What's the number?" the Doctor asked Kazran.

"I don't know!" Kazran strained, still trying to turn the wheel.

"There are alarms everywhere," Evy read the results of her scan of the keypad, "Triggered by the door. We'll need that number to get in quietly."

"I'm not allowed to know until I'm older!"

The Doctor and Evy shared a look…

"Give us a mo…" Evy told him.

And they were off, running up the stairs.

~8~

"7-2-5-8!" the older Kazran was shouting as new memories arose in his mind.

"Just what we were after…" the Doctor called, peeking through a doorway. Kazran spun around to see them standing there, leaning out of a blue phone box.

"Thank you!" Evy shouted, shutting the door…

~8~

"7-2-5-8!" the Doctor yelled as they ran back down the stairs to where the younger Kazran was waiting for them, "7-2-5-8!"

Kazran ran to the keypad and put it in, standing back as the Doctor and Evy struggled to get the door open. It finally swung out to reveal a large room with fog rolling across the floor, tiny little fish swimming through it.

"Ah, there's fish down here too!" the Doctor exclaimed, looking at them.

"Yeah, but only tiny ones," Kazran remarked, walking through the rows of people, "The house is built on a fog bank that's how dad freezes the people. They're all full but…we could borrow one," he stopped and peered inside one, "Yeah, this one!"

The Doctor walked over and held up a lamp to reveal the blonde woman they had first seen in the older Kazran's house standing there, "Hello again," Evy breathed.

"You know her?" Kazran glanced at them.

"Oh yeah…" the Doctor looked down at him, a smile on his face, "Important is she?"

Kazran looked away, a tiny blush on his cheeks, moving to the side of the box, "She won't mind, she loves the fish," he typed a little command into the keypad on the side and a projection began to play in the window of the box.

"My name is Abigail Pettigrew," the woman said, via projection, "And I'm very grateful for Mr. Sardick's kindness…"

"She starts to talk about the fish in a minute…" Kazran murmured.

The Doctor took Evy's hand, slowly walking off to look at the other boxes while Kazran watched Abigail speak.

"…but I'm also surrounded by the fish," the projection continued, "The beautiful, iridescent, magical fish..."

"Why are all these people even here?" Evy frowned as they peered into another box, she looked around there had to be hundreds, "Why does he do this?"

"My dad lends money," Kazran sighed, "He always takes a family member as...he calls it 'security.'"

"Hard man to love, your dad," the Doctor commented, looking back at the young boy, "I suppose you know that."

"I'm not alone and I am at peace," the projection finished.

Kazran hit another button and the projection disappeared, the warming process starting.

"Doctor…" Evy began, looking back at the open door, "Can you hear that?" it sounded like a submarine radar beep.

"What's wrong?" Kazran looked over to see them both eyeing the door.

The Doctor pulled out his sonic, now flashing in time with the beeps, "Just my half a screwdriver trying to repair itself. It's signaling the other half."

Kazran walked over to them, listening as the beeping became louder, "The other half's inside the shark," Kazran breathed, his eyes wide and on the door.

"Yep. Sounds like she's woken up…ok, so it's homing on the screwdriver…"

Suddenly the shark appeared above them, diving at them. The Doctor pulled Evy towards him, the two of them being knocked to the ground, the boxes falling around them as Kazran ran off, trying to avoid the shark.

"Kazran!" Evy shouted. She quickly pushed herself up and pulled the Doctor up as well, the two of them running off after him but unable to find him. Then…

Someone started singing.

They paused, looking at each other, before turning and running back, their sonics out and only one of them ready, only to see Kazran standing there, watching as the blonde woman, Abigail, knelt by the shark, petting it as she sang.

They slowly walked forward, a bit amazing that the bloodthirsty shark was now as calm as a kitten.

"It's not _really_ the singing, of course," the Doctor commented as they came up beside Kazran.

"Yes it is," the boy argued.

"Nah," the Doctor waved it off.

"The fish _love_ the singing. It's true."

"Nah, the notes resonate in the ice crystals causing a delta wave pattern in the fog…" he suddenly slapped his neck and looked behind him, "Ow! Fish bit me."

"Shut up then!" Kazran grumbled, turning to watch the woman sing as she glanced up at them.

"I see," Evy nodded slowly, looking up at the Doctor, "That's how the machine is able to control the cloud belt."

"The clouds are ice crystals," he nodded as well, realizing what she was thinking, "If you could vibrate the crystals at exactly the right frequency, you could align them into…" he slapped his neck again, "Ow! Why do they keep biting me?!"

"Look, fish like the singing, ok?" Kazran glared at him, "Now shut up!"

The Doctor pointed at the boy like he was going to say something but then put his finger down, "Ok…" he turned to watch the singing, before slapping his neck again, "Ow! What was _that_ for? I didn't even say anything this time!" he shouted at the fish.

Evy giggled, "That was actually me that time."

He pointed at her like he was going to say something and she just raised an eyebrow. Instead he gave her a peck on the lips and turned to listen again. Evy smiled, taking his hand in her own as they stood there and listened to the beautiful melody.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lol, oh Evy, you just love teasing him don't you? I loved writing this episode, I love all the Christmas adventures, they're so fun. I'm especially looking forward to the next chapter, I feel like it really picks up with all their Christmas Eve adventures through time and space, so I can't wait till tomorrow to post it.
> 
> Next chapter...Abigail takes a leaf out of Evy's book. Evy's got an eyebrow of doom. The Doctor gets a very touching Christmas gift.


	22. A Christmas Carol (Part 2)

As soon as the shark had calmed down enough, the Doctor and Evy managed to move it to Abigail's ice-box. The Doctor got to work locking it in as Evy brought down the TARDIS, leaving the doors open for Abigail and Kazran to peer inside.

"It's bigger on the inside…" Kazran breathed.

"Yes," the Doctor agreed as Evy double checked the locks, "It's the color, really knocks the walls back," he rapped on the box, "Shark in a box to go!"

Kazran and Abigail ran over to him and looked in at the box for a moment before the Doctor and Evy hefted it up and carried it into the TARDIS. They placed the shark on the floor, Evy shutting the doors before they ran up to the console and got the TARDIS off.

"This is amazing!" Abigail looked around in awe.

"Nah, this is transport!" the Doctor grinned, "We keep amazing…" he and Evy ran to the doors, throwing them open once more, "Out here!"

They were in the clouds, in a sky full of fish, just swimming around.

"Come on then," Evy pulled the Doctor away and over to the box, leaving Abigail and Kazran to look outside, "Let's get sharky back out there."

They knelt down and worked on opening the box as Kazran pulled out a small image capture device and took a picture of Abigail only moments before they jumped away from the door as the shark darted past them and out into the sky.

"Hey!" Kazran ran back to the door, looking out, "Look at them go!"

The Doctor shut the ice-box door and Evy frowned, seeing a number 8 on a timer, "Abigail," she called, drawing the woman's attention, "What does this number mean?"

Abigail glanced at Kazran before walking over to them, "It pertains to me ma'am, not the fish."

"Yeah," the Doctor nodded, looking at her, curious about the number as well, "But how?"

"You are a doctor you say? Are you one of mine?"

"Do you need a doctor?" Evy asked her gently.

Abigail looked down, about to answer, when a timer dinged behind them.

"Ah!" the Doctor turned and ran up to the console, Evy shaking her head at him before joining him, "Sorry time's up kids."

"Why?" Kazran frowned and turned around.

"It's Christmas day!"

They took the humans back to the ice-box room, getting Abigail's all upright and working once again. She took a breath and walked back into hers, turning to face them, "If you should ever wish to visit again…" she began.

"Well, you know," the Doctor shrugged as he leaned against her box, "If we're ever in the neighborhood..."

"They come every Christmas Eve," Kazran said excitedly.

"What?" the Doctor looked down at him, Evy trying to keep a smile off her face as a child got the best of him.

"Yeah, they do. Every time, they promise!"

"What?" the Doctor demanded, turning to face Abigail as Evy laughed, "No, we don't…"

But the door sealed shut.

~8~

Evy had gotten quite a good laugh out of the Doctor's flustered state. As soon as Abigail had been frozen again, Kazran had rambled about how excited he was and promised to think of plans for next year before running off…which didn't leave the Doctor with any time to argue. She'd simply given him a kiss, saying it might be fun and reminding him that they had a time machine and could just jump a year ahead instead of waiting.

After that he was much more agreeable to the idea.

They reappeared in the ice-box room to see Kazran standing there, wearing a Father Christmas hat and holding two for them as well. As soon as the Doctor had seen the hat, he'd gotten another Christmas themed idea and ran into the TARDIS looking for a harness. Evy was a bit afraid for his sanity till he shared his idea at her...and then she was _very_ afraid for his sanity. What little he had left of it.

"Merry Christmas!" they shouted as they opened Abigail's ice-box once more, seeming like it had only been an instant to the woman since she saw them last.

"Doctor!" Abigail greeted, "Evy! Merry Christmas Kazran!" Kazran ran forward and took her hand, leading her towards the open door to the room, following after the Doctor and Evy, "What are we going to do?"

"The Doctor's got a great plan," Kazran replied, "Wait till you hear!"

They led Abigail and Kazran outside and managed to find a small sleigh to use. The Doctor immediately got to work, trying to rig the harness to the sleigh as Evy explained their plan to Abigail.

"You are out of your mind!" Abigail shook her head, "This will _never_ work."

"Oh, don't think shark," the Doctor called, stepping away from the sleigh, "Think dolphin!"

"A shark isn't a dolphin."

"It's _nearly_ a dolphin," the Doctor argued, pulling out his sonic.

"No, it isn't," even Evy had to point out.

The Doctor looked back at the two women, holding his sonic in the air, "Well that's where you're wrong because…" he looked at Evy who raised an eyebrow at him, "Shut up…" he muttered.

"Excuse me?" her eyebrow rose higher.

"I love you?" the Doctor tried.

"Better," Evy smirked, kissing him on the cheek, "I love you too."

"It could be anywhere," Kazran commented, getting out of the sleigh and running over to them, "Will it really come?"

"No chance," the Doctor replied, "Completely impossible…" he smiled at Evy, "Unless Evy is here or…" there was a faint beeping noise, "It's Christmas."

~8~

Somehow they had managed to rig up the shark to the harness without getting bitten and were now flying the sleigh across the winter sky. Kazran and Abigail were sitting in the back while Evy and the Doctor sat in the front, holding the reins, trying to control the shark as it rampaged through the sky.

"How are we gonna get back?" Kazran called.

"We don't know!" the Doctor shouted.

"Do you have a plan?" Abigail asked.

"Never!" Evy yelled, laughing, as they flew around all over the town in a shark drawn sleigh.

~8~

They were back in the ice-box room, Abigail absolutely beaming as she stood in her ice-box, "Best Christmas Eve ever!" she breathed.

"Till the next one," Kazran corrected as they waved, shutting the door.

~8~

"Merry Christmas!" they shouted, opening the door to Abigail's ice-box.

"Evy!" Abigail smiled, "Doctor! Merry Christmas Kazran!" Kazran took her arm like last time and led her out of the box, but to the TARDIS this time, "Where to this time?"

"Did we ever mention..." Evy began.

"All of time and space!" the Doctor shouted, laughing.

~8~

"Merry Christmas!" they shouted, wearing fezzes as they opened Abigail's ice-box.

"Doctor!" Abigail laughed, "Evy! Merry Christmas Kazran!"

~8~

"Merry Christmas!" they shouted, now wearing multi-colored scarves, Kazran decked out in one Evy had found at the back of the TARDIS wardrobe that seemed very familiar to the Doctor.

"Evy!" Abigail hugged the girl, "Doctor! And Kazran!"

~8~

"Merry Christmas!" they shouted, opening Abigail's ice-box.

Abigail's eye was immediately drawn to Kazran who was now much older, in his late teens, and looking quite dashing in his suit, "Kazran?" she breathed, looking at him. Evy and the Doctor exchanged knowing glances before leading them all into the TARDIS, "You've grown," Abigail commented, still unable to take her eyes off him.

"Yeah," he smiled a bit.

"And now you're blushing," Abigail grinned.

"I'm sorry," he gave a nervous chuckle.

"That's ok," she cut in, still looking at him.

"So!" Kazran nervously jogged over to the Doctor and Evy as they fiddled about the console, "Doctor! Evy! Where this time?"

"Any Christmas Eve you want," Evy said.

"We've got them alright here," the Doctor patted the TARDIS.

"Might I make a request?" Abigail called.

They looked at her, Evy smiling gently, "Course you can!"

Abigail smiled as well, "This one."

~8~

They strode about town that night, just aimlessly roaming, following Abigail as she pointed out various shops and houses, taking in how much had changed since she'd been frozen. She paused though, stopping outside a small house and looking in through the window as the family within prepared for Christmas. The Doctor, Evy, and Kazran stood back a bit, watching.

"Who are they?" Kazran asked, watching Abigail closely.

"Her family," Evy replied, having caught a glimpse as they walked past, "The lady's her sister."

"We met her once when she was…older…" the Doctor commented, thinking of the old woman who had been with the family of four in the older Kazran's home.

Kazran frowned, "Abigail's crying…"

They looked over, indeed she was.

"Yes…" the Doctor agreed.

"When girls are crying aren't you supposed to talk to them?" Kazran looked over at them.

The Doctor thought for a moment, "I have absolutely no idea," and he really didn't. He looked at Evy, with her…things just came naturally. He always knew how to calm her or reassure her or help her, but other people…when they did the things she did, he was lost.

Evy smiled softly, "When we're upset," she told Kazran, laying a hand on his shoulder, "Having a friend to just be there for us is sometimes more than enough. You don't always have to speak to say something," that bit of information just seemed to confuse him more so Evy gave him a gentle nudge over in Abigail's direction. He walked over, leaving Evy and the Doctor standing there. She looked up at the Doctor, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

He smiled, "Always."

They turned and snuck around to the front of the house without Kazran or Abigail even noticing.

"My sister's family," Abigail told Kazran, "They're so happy."

"They look very poor," he commented, watching as they decorated the room, sparse, cheap decorations.

"They _are_ very poor. Doesn't mean you can't be happy."

"Then why aren't you?" he looked at her in concern.

The curtain in front of the window was thrown shut in their faces. Abigail flinched, "Because this is the life I can never have," she murmured, tears in her eyes.

"Why not?"

Abigail just took his hand, "I think you're blushing again."

Before Kazran could speak the curtain was thrown open. They looked over to see the Doctor and Evy standing inside, grinning at them, "Come in!" the Doctor shouted.

"Come on!" Evy motioned for them to move.

They laughed and headed into the house.

~8~

Later that night, the Doctor was holding out a fan of cards to a small boy, "Pick a card, any card at all."

Evy sat beside him, amusedly watching as he tried his hand at a card trick while Kazran helped the child's father hang Christmas decorations. She looked over at Abigail who was sitting with her sister.

"Every Christmas Eve?" Abigail's sister was shaking her head, "I don't understand at all."

"I'm not sure I do," Abigail admitted.

"You memorize the card, you put it back in the deck," the Doctor continued, "Don't let me see it," he paused, "Or Evy for that matter, it would be cheating."

"Is this what it looked like last year?" the father called over to Abigail's sister.

"It doesn't have to look exactly the same," she told him.

The man just shook his head, "I'm starting again," he took down a few lights, looking over at Kazran who was standing there with the lights and garlands draped over his shoulders, "Come on Kazran we're starting again."

"That's Sardick's boy, isn't it?" Abigail's sister turned back to her.

"He's not like his father," Abigail said.

"His father treats everyone like cattle. One day that boy'll do the same."

"No. He's different."

The Doctor whipped out a card, "Three of clubs!"

"No," the child said.

Evy snorted as the Doctor mock glared at her, before he turned back to the boy, "Are you sure? 'Cos I'm very good at card tricks."

"It wasn't the three of clubs."

The Doctor threw the three of clubs over his shoulder, "Well of course it wasn't 'cos it was the…" he pulled another card out of the pocket of his jacket, "Seven of diamonds!"

"No," the child shook his head.

Evy started laughing.

"Oi," the Doctor frowned, elbowing her a bit to get her to stop as he looked at the child, "Stop it, you're doing it wrong."

"I see him around the town sometimes," Abigail's sister continued, "Never any friends."

"He's got me," Abigail cut in.

"All those Christmas Eves. You never once came to see us."

"I'm here now."

"Then stay. Stay for tomorrow. Have Christmas dinner with us."

"I can't," Abigail replied sadly.

"Well then," her sister stood and turned to her family, "Tomorrow's Christmas dinner is cancelled as my sister refuses to attend."

"Isabella!" Abigail cried, grabbing her sister's arm.

"Instead…" Isabella continued, smiling, "We'll have it tonight!"

~8~

The Doctor was sitting beside Evy at the end of the table full of Abigail's family, everyone holding a party popper in their hands, "3, 2, 1!" the Doctor shouted and they all pulled the poppers.

"How did you do that?" the child asked, pulling a card from his popper.

"Your card I believe," the Doctor smirked at him.

The boy looked down at the card, holding up the eight of hearts, "No."

"Oh, shut up!" the Doctor frowned as they all laughed.

Evy just shook her head, getting up and going over to Kazran. She picked up his hat and there was a card sitting on top of his head. She held it up to the boy, queen of spades, "Is this it?" she handed it to him.

"Yeah!" the child cried, looking up at her.

She smiled and sat back down next to the Doctor, "Don't mind him, he's rubbish at sleight of hand."

"I'm not that bad!" he countered.

"Seventeen times in Shan Shen," she deadpanned, reminding him of when he'd tried to remove her Perception Filter, "Four times on the Starship UK," and Mandy's ID wallet.

He just grumbled till Evy gave him a kiss on the cheek.

Kazran held up a little tin mug, "Merry Christmas!"

The Doctor and Evy smiled, holding up theirs as well, "Merry Christmas!"

The rest of the family joined in, cheering and toasting. Evy glanced at Kazran and Abigail sitting beside each other. She reached over and took the Doctor's hand in her own, much like the young couple was doing as well.

~8~

Back in the ice-box room Abigail was smiling widely, "Best Christmas Eve ever!" she laughed, hugging Evy.

"Till the next one," she replied.

"I look forward to it," Abigail agreed, hugging the Doctor as well before turning to glance at Kazran, "Now I'd like to say good night to Kazran."

"Of course," the Doctor nodded, "Yes…" the young couple stood there, looking at each other, "Well on you go," they gave him a look as Evy just shook her head.

"Doctor…" she said softly. He looked at her as she gave him a meaningful look.

"Oh!" his eyes widened as he realized what they were talking about, "Oh! Yes, right sorry…we'll um…"

"We'll just go now," Evy told them, taking the Doctor's hand and tugging him away.

"Good night!" he nodded at Abigail, "Good luck…" he turned to Kazran, "Night! Good _night_."

Evy tugged him more and he finally turned around and headed off with her.

"Doctor!" Kazran called, running after them. They stopped, "I um…I think she's going to kiss me."

"Yeah, I think you're right…" the Doctor laughed, nudging him back towards Abigail.

"I've never kissed anyone before," Kazran ran back to them, "What do I do?"

Evy just rolled her eyes at him before grabbing the Doctor's face and pulling him in, kissing him hard on the mouth, not stopping till he was breathless, leaving him stunned as she sauntered off towards the TARDIS.

The Doctor's eyes were wide and glazed as he looked after her, not entirely sure where he was until Kazran started to talk again.

"Um…I…" Kazran swallowed hard, "I don't think I could quite do _that_ …"

The Doctor slapped himself hard, snapping himself out of his daze, and spun to Kazran, putting an arm around him, "Just um…try to be all rubbish and nervous and a bit shaky."

"Why?"

"'Cos you're gonna be like that anyway, unless we make it part of the plan then it'll be on purpose," he slapped Kazran's cheek lightly and nudged him off again, "Off you go then…"

"Now?" Kazran asked, coming back, "I kiss her _now_?"

"Kazran trust me, it's you go up to that girl and kiss her…" he swallowed hard, glancing at the TARDIS, "Or run to a room and design a new kind of screwdriver. Don't make that mistake now, go!" he pushed Kazran back to Abigail, who seemed to have taken a leaf out of Evy's book in how she said good night, and nearly jogged back to the TARDIS fully intent on finding his lovely Link and _not_ making the mistake of designing a screwdriver.

~8~

They had gone to so many places during those Christmas Eves. Egypt, Australia, America…and those were just a few of the memorable ones. Now, they were back in America, in California to be exact, Hollywood, 1952, and they were having a blast. The Doctor and Evy had run into their old friend Frank Sinatra and he'd cornered the Doctor into singing a duet with him.

Evy had been in the middle of a conversation with Doris Day when the Doctor suddenly ran over to her, grabbing her hand, and pulling her out of the room, muttering something about crazy blondes and chapels. Apparently, he'd accidently gotten himself engaged to Marilyn Monroe…

He popped his head behind a bush, making sure Marilyn wasn't there, only to see Kazran and Abigail before the pool, "Guys!" he shouted, running past them, pulling Evy with him, "We've really got to go, quite quickly. I just accidently got engaged to Marilyn Monroe…and Evy's going to kill either me or her and neither will be very pretty," he looked over to see them kissing, "You…" he walked over to them, "Is…" he popped up on either side of them, watching them, "How do you keep going like that?" he looked over at Evy, "I mean we have a respiratory bypass system but…" he looked over to see them _still_ kissing, "Do you breathe out your ears?" he snapped his fingers, "Hello! Sorry…" he rapped on Kazran's head lightly, "Hello!?" and then on Abigail's, "Guys! She's phoned a _chapel_! There's a _car_ outside. This is _happening_ now!"

"Yoo hoo!" someone called in the distance.

"Yoo hoo!" he turned and waved before wincing and looking over at Evy, who was standing there, with her arms crossed, and her eyebrow raised…not good. Not good at all. He knew that look, that stance, and the eyebrow...hers was an eyebrow of doom when all things were combined. This would not be good for him.

He turned back to them, "Right…fine…got to go! Meet back at the TARDIS!" he ran forward and grabbed Evy's arm, pulling her back the way they came.

~8~

Back in the ice-box room, the Doctor was _still_ apologizing to Evy for what happened at the party as Kazran and Abigail said their goodbyes, "I'm sorry," he told her again, "I have absolutely no idea how that even happened! I swear! One minute we were talking about how diamonds are supposedly a girl's best friend and I said I thought a woman's best friend was her husband and then the next thing I know she's kissing my cheek and running off to get a chapel set up. I swear I…"

He was suddenly cut off by Evy grabbing the lapels of his white coat and pulling him down for a sound kiss. She pulled back after a moment, looking him straight in the eyes, "You are _mine_ and don't you _ever_ forget that."

He breathed out a sigh of relief, smiling softly, as he brushed a lock of hair from her face, "Never ever."

"Good," she nodded.

The sound of the ice-box door sealing reached them, drawing them away from their thoughts. They looked over to see Kazran stepping back from Abigail's box.

"There we go," the Doctor smiled, taking Evy's hand and pulling her down towards him, "Another day. Another Christmas Eve. We'll see you in a minute eh? I mean a year."

They stepped past him, heading for the TARDIS.

"Uh Doctor!" Kazran called, "Evy!" they stopped and turned, "Listen, why don't we leave it?"

"Leave what?" Evy frowned.

"Well you know, this. Every Christmas Eve. It's getting a bit old."

"Old?" the Doctor shook his head, not understanding.

"Well, Christmas is for kids. Isn't it? I've got some work with my dad now and I want to focus on that. Get that cloud belt under control."

The Doctor blinked, "Sorry, we…we didn't realize we were boring you."

"Not your fault. Times change," he turned and walked off.

"Not as much as we'd hoped though," Evy sighed.

"Kazran!" the Doctor shouted as he walked towards him, Evy beside him. Karan stopped and turned to face them. The Doctor pulled out his sonic, "I'll be needing a new one anyway. What the hell. Merry Christmas," he put it in Kazran's hand, "And if you ever need us just activate it and we'll hear you."

"I won't need you," he nearly sneered.

"What happened Kazran?" Evy asked him, this wasn't like the man they were getting to know, "What aren't you telling us?"

Kazran just shook his head at them and walked off.

"What about Abigail?" the Doctor called.

Kazran just turned, gesturing around, "I know where to find her."

"Yeah…" the Doctor nodded sadly.

Evy took his hand and squeezed it, leading him back to the TARDIS.

~8~

The Doctor had a bit of hope left for the young man. They appeared the very next Christmas Eve in the area outside Kazran's bedroom. They stood by the window as the young man strode into the room and over to his desk drawer. He opened it and pulled out the half of the sonic that the Doctor had given him, turning suddenly to see them stranding there. He strode over to the window. The Doctor leaned down and smiled at him.

But Kazran just glared and thrust the curtains closed.

Evy sighed, resting a hand on the Doctor's arm, "Come on…backup plan then, we need to contact Amy."

~8~

Now that the Ghosts of Christmas Past had done their job, it was time to move onto the second part of the plan, the Ghost of Christmas Present. The Doctor and Evy had appeared back in the present time and immediately contacted Amy, telling her that they hadn't managed to change Kazran enough for him to help them. Now it was time for her to appeal to him. She had to make him realize what was happening to the people on the ship right that very moment.

The Doctor told Amy all they had learned about the boy, about the fish and the singing, about the Christmas Eves with Abigail, anything that could possibly get through to him. Evy talked Rory through how to get the ship's holographic programs to project to Kazran's house, even how to hack into the projectors in the ice-boxes to show him the other people on the ship, and how to work those controls so Amy could speak to the bitter old man. They promised to be listening the entire time, they could even watch through the monitor of the TARDIS.

"Hello!" Amy appeared in the older Kazran's sitting room.

"Who are you?" Kazran demanded, jumping back from her sudden appearance in the room, "What are you doing here?"

"You didn't think this was over did ya?" Amy asked, putting her hands on her hips, "I'm the Ghost of Christmas Present."

"A ghost?" Kazran asked incredulously, "Dressed like _that_?"

Suddenly Rory pushed her out of the way, "Eyes off the skirt."

And then Amy pushed him and took her place again.

"You turned into a Roman," Kazran commented.

"Yeah, yeah, I do that," Amy replied, looking away at something Kazran couldn't see, "I also do this," and suddenly she disappeared.

Kazran looked around, startled, "Do what? What are you talking about?"

He was silent a moment, before he caught the sounds of singing. He followed it down to the ice-box room, looking through the window in the door to see people standing there, singing 'Silent Night.' He quickly opened the door and stepped inside, looking at them.

"They're holograms," Amy appeared behind him, "Projections, like me."

"Who are they?" he asked.

"The people in the ship up there. The ones that you're gonna let die tonight."

"Why are they singing?"

"For their lives," Amy replied, looking around, "Which one's Abigail?" Kazran looked back at her in shock, "The Doctor and Evy told me."

"Did they now?" he sneered.

"They don't hold back. You know them."

"How would I? Never met them before tonight. But I seem to have known them all my life. Now why?"

"You're the only person who can let that ship land. They were trying to turn you into a nicer person. And they were trying to do it nicely."

"They changed my past," he spat, "My whole life!"

"Time can be rewritten."

"You tell the Doctor and Evy," he turned to glare at her, "Tell them from me, people can't!" he strode through the holograms, causing them to disappear, and over to Abigail's box, just looking in at her.

Amy appeared behind him, "That's Abigail?"

"I would never have known her if the Doctor and Evy hadn't changed the course of my whole life to suit themselves," he grumbled.

"Well that's good isn't it?"

"No."

Amy glanced over at Abigail, "Why is she still in there? You could let her out any time."

"Oh yes. Anytime at all. Any time I choose," he rested a hand on the base of the window, just touching the box.

"Then why don't you?"

" _This_ is what they did to me," he said quietly, "Abigail was ill when she went into the ice. To the point of death. I suppose the rest on the ice helped her. But she's used up her time. Those Christmas Eves with me. I could release her any time I want…" he dropped his hand to run a finger across a number 1 on the dial of her door, "And she would have a single day," he looked over at Amy, "So tell me, Ghost of Christmas Present, how do I choose which day?"

Amy blinked back her tears, "I'm sorry. I really am. I'm very, _very_ sorry. But you know what? She's got more time left than I have. More than anyone on this ship."

"Good," Kazran spat.

Amy looked over her shoulder, "Rory, widen the beam."

Suddenly Kazran found himself standing on the star liner. He could see what was happening on the bridge, the pilot, the captain, and the assistant all scrambling to try and keep the ship as stable as possible while Amy stood there beside Rory.

"Status update on engine one!" the captain called.

"How did I get here?" Kazran demanded.

"You didn't," Amy said, "It's _your_ turn to be the hologram," she walked over to him, "Since you're gonna let a lot of people die tonight we thought you might like to see where it's all gonna happen."

Kazran looked behind him, hearing something, "The singing…what is it? I don't understand…" he looked over at the main window where a screen was playing, showing the people around the ship singing.

"It's the Doctor's idea," Rory said, "The harmonies resonate in the ice crystals, that's why the fish like it," there was a jolt, "He thought that, maybe, it would stabilize the ship. But it isn't working. It's not powerful enough."

"Why are they still singing then?"

The captain turned to face him, "Because we haven't told them," an alarm started blaring, "Sir, I understand you have a machine that controls this cloud layer. If you can release us from it, we still have time to make a landing. Nobody has to die."

"Everybody has to die."

"Not tonight," Amy argued.

"Tonight is as good as any other night," Kazran countered as Amy shook her head, "How do you choose?"

"Doctor?" Amy asked, holding up the comm., "Evy?"

"Yeah?" the Doctor's voice came over it.

"Are you hearing this?"

"Yeah," Evy sighed.

"They're here?" Kazran looked around, "Where are they? Doctor? Evy?" and suddenly he disappeared, reappearing in the ice-box room, "Doctor! Evy!" he spun around to see Evy and the Doctor standing there. The TARDIS behind them with the door open just a crack.

"We're sorry," Evy said, glancing at Abigail's box, "We didn't realize..."

"All my life I've been called heartless. My other life. My _real_ life. The one you rewrote. Now look at me," he looked over at Abigail.

"Better a broken heart than no heart at all," the Doctor replied.

"Try it," Kazran snapped, "You try it."

"I have," the Doctor said, taking Evy's hand in his own, "Believe me, we both have."

Kazran looked away, "Why are you here?"

"We're not exactly finished with you," Evy walked forward, away from the Doctor to face Kazran, "You've seen the past and the present, now you need to see the future."

"Fine, do it," he snapped, "Show me. I'll die cold, alone, and afraid. Of course I will. We all do. What difference does showing me make? Do you know _why_ I'm going to let those people die? Not a plan. I don't get anything from it," he turned and strode up to her, the Doctor tensing, but Evy didn't back down, "It's just that I don't _care_. I'm not like you. I don't even want to be like you. I don't, and never ever will, care!"

It was silent a moment.

"And we don't believe that," the Doctor said, walking over to join Evy.

"Then show me the future," he glared at them, "Prove me wrong."

"We _are_ showing it to you," Evy said, "Right now," she took a breath, speaking louder, "What do you think of it?" she looked over Kazran's shoulder, towards the TARDIS, "Is _this_ the man you want to be Kazran?"

Kazran turned to see his younger self standing there, staring at him. They both slowly walked towards each other, taking the other in.

"Dad?" the younger Kazran asked, staring at his older self.

Kazran threw his cane down and stormed over to himself, raising his hand, ready to strike as the Doctor and Evy watched in silence, hoping this would work.

Kazran hesitated, as he did with the young boy from before, and stared down at his younger self, now crying and as much afraid of him as he had been of his father. He dropped his hand, shaking, "I'm sorry…" he mumbled, "I'm so, _so_ sorry…" he reached out for his younger self but the child backed away, terrified of him. But he stepped nearer, resting his hands on the child's shoulders, "No need to be frightened…" the child began to cry openly as Kazran hugged himself to him, mumbling, "I'm so, so, so, so, so…"

They both started crying as the Doctor and Evy walked towards them, "Kazran…" the Doctor began as the older Kazran looked up, "We don't have much time."

~8~

The ship jolted violently, sparks flying, "Integrity at 30 percent!" the pilot called.

"We have five minutes max!" the captain shouted, "We _need_ to land!"

Suddenly the Doctor appeared on the screen, Evy in the background, by a flashing device, talking to an old man and a child, "Hello?" he called, "Hello? Ah! Hello everyone! Uh, try to lock on to our signal."

"Doctor what's happening?" Amy asked.

"We just saved Christmas!" he grinned, "Don't go away."

And then the screen cut off.

"Doctor?" Amy shouted, "Doctor!"

~8~

The Doctor turned around, running over to Evy, who was standing beside the controls, as Kazran tried to get them working, the younger version of him standing on the other side of her.

"We good to go?" he asked.

"The controls aren't responding," Evy said seriously.

"Why not? They're isomorphic…" he looked at Kazran, "They're tuned to your brainwaves. They'll _only_ respond to you."

Evy blinked.

"They won't respond," Kazran stated.

"Well, it doesn't make sense," the Doctor said, "That's ridiculous…" he started fiddling with the bottom of the controls, "Why won't…" he could feel the prickling of awareness filter from Evy's mind to his, he looked at her, "Oh…oh, of course. Stupid, stupid…"

"What's wrong? Tell me, what is it?"

"It's you," Evy said softly, looking at him, "We changed you so much that the machine doesn't recognize you."

"But no. My father programmed it to…"

"No," the Doctor cut in, "Your father would have never programmed it for the man you are now," he sighed, walking away.

"Then what do we do?"

The Doctor turned around, "Um, um, I don't know, I don't know…" he rubbed his head. Evy walked over to him, taking his hands before he could start smacking himself.

"There must be _something_ ," the young Kazran said.

"This!" Kazran shouted, "You can use this!" he held up the sonic, "I kept it, see…"

"What?" the Doctor asked, "Half a screwdriver?" he looked away, before freezing, an idea occurring to him, "With the other half up in the sky, in a big old shark, right in the _heart_ of the cloud layer…"

"If we use the aerial to boost the signal and set up a resonation pattern between two halves…" Evy began, her eyes widening at she finished his thought.

"Yes!" he scooped her up and spun her around, the two running back to the controls, "Come on now, that would work. My screwdriver coolest bit of kit on this planet, coolest two bits, it could do it!"

"Do what?" Kazran asked.

"His screwdriver is _still_ trying to repair itself," Evy explained, "It'll keep signaling the other half. We just use that signal to go from this sonic to the one in the shark and send something else up."

"Send what?" young Kazran asked but the Doctor hesitated.

"Well what?" Kazran asked, "What?"

The Doctor looked at Evy, who nodded, before turning to the older Kazran, "We're sorry Kazran, we truly are."

"I don't understand," he shook his head.

"We need to transmit something we know will work into the clouds," Evy said softly, resting a hand on the man's shoulder, "We don't have the time to waste trying to find another suitable signal."

"We need her to sing," the Doctor said.

The two Kazrans looked at each other.

~8~

They stood outside Abigail's ice-box, Evy, the Doctor, and the young Kazran off to the side as the older Kazran stood before it, heating her up.

"Her voice resonates perfectly with the ice crystals," the Doctor said, "It calmed the shark, it'll calm the sky too."

"Could you do it?" Kazran asked, watching the process, "Could you do this? Think about it… _one last day_ with your beloved. Which day will you choose?" he looked over at them.

"Any day," Evy answered without hesitation. They all looked at her. But she just took the Doctor's hand, "If it was my last day, it wouldn't matter what day, as long as I got to spend it with the person I truly loved," she looked at the Doctor, just squeezing his hand as she could tell his throat was closing with emotion.

"And I would pick Christmas," Abigail said, stepping out of her box, "Christmas Day," Kazran gasped, looking at her. She smiled softly at him, "Look at you. You're so old now. I think you waited a bit too long, didn't you?"

"I'm sorry…" he whispered.

She just lifted a hand to rest on his cheek, "Hoarding my days like an old miser."

Kazran laughed, tears in his eyes, "But…if you leave the ice now…"

"We've had _so many_ Christmas Eves Kazran. I think it's time for Christmas _Day_."

"Yes," he nodded.

The Doctor put an arm around the young Kazran's shoulders, his other arm wrapping around Evy's waist, pulling her close as he nuzzled the top of her head.

~8~

On the ship, Amy and Rory hung on for dear life as it sparked and jolted around them.

"Doctor!" Amy shouted into the comm., "Evy!"

"We can't hold it!" the captain yelled, "We're going down!"

And suddenly, a faint sound of singing could be heard.

"Captain I've got…" the pilot began, "I don't know what I've got…"

"What is that?" the captain frowned, looking over at him, "What are you listening to?"

"It's just come from outside!" the pilot shouted, hitting buttons, feeding the noise into the cabin, "This is coming from the actual clouds!"

~8~

Back on Earth, Abigail stood in the street, holding the half-of-a-sonic, singing into it as wires ran out the bottom. The Doctor fiddled with a few of them as Evy stood with the young Kazran, the older one standing beside Abigail, "Well?" Kazran asked, "Well?"

"The singing will resonate in the crystals," Evy explained, "It'll feed back and forth between the two halves of the screwdriver."

"Now one song, filling the sky, the crystals will align, and I'll feed in a control phase loop," the Doctor finished, "And the clouds will unlock."

"What does that mean?" the young Kazran looked up at Evy, "Unlock? What happens when a cloud unlocks?"

Evy smiled at him, "Something that hasn't happened in this town for a _very_ long time now," she looked over at the Doctor, who smiled, and looked up, just as it started to snow, Abigail's song echoing around them.

~8~

"We're flying normally!" the assistant shouted as the ship began to calm.

"Can you land?" the captain asked.

"I can even land well!" he smiled.

Amy and Rory hugged fiercely, so happy to be safe once more, "Oh, they did it!" she cheered, "The Doctor and Evy did it."

"Yeah," Rory rolled his eyes, "They get _all_ the credit…" Amy gave him a look, "Which is actually fair enough if you think about it."

Amy just laughed and kissed him.

~8~

The Doctor and Evy watched as Abigail continued to sing, Kazran holding her hand. They smiled at each other before leading the younger Kazran back to the TARDIS as children ran by to play in the snow. They paused outside the box as the submarine beeping sounded. They looked up to see the shark flying through the clouds.

"Hello my old friend!" Kazran shouted, waving at the sky.

The Doctor ruffled the child's hair as Evy opened the doors, letting him in, "Come on," the Doctor laughed, "Let's go."

They stepped into the TARDIS, looking back and smiling at the couple, before getting in and disappearing to return young Kazran back to his own time.

~8~

The Doctor looked intently at a snowman before him, rubbing his nose with the carrot sticking out of its face while Evy laughed, "You know, that could almost be mistaken for a real person," Amy called as she and Rory walked over to them, still dressed as a policewoman and centurion, "Snowman isn't bad either."

"Ah yes, you two, about time," the Doctor called.

"Can I ask why you're dressed like that?" Evy eyed them.

"Ship, uh, kind of lost our luggage," Rory remarked, "Crash landed…"

"Yeah…" the Doctor nodded, "But why are you dressed like that _at all_?"

"They uh, they really love their snowmen around here, don't they?" Amy changed the topic, "I've counted about twenty."

"Yeah, we've been busy," Evy laughed, patting the Doctor's snowman on the head.

"Yeah, yeah you have," Amy agreed, giving them both a hug.

"Pleasure, right, come on," the Doctor pulled away, "Let's go!"

They turned and walked off, Evy and the Doctor perfectly at ease but Rory and Amy shivering a bit, "Got any more honeymoon ideas?" Rory asked.

"Well, there's a moon that's made of actual honey," the Doctor began, "Well not _actual_ honey...and it's not _actually_ a moon...and _technically_ it's alive…"

"And a bit carnivorous," Evy reminded him.

"But there _are_ some lovely views," he argued, taking out the key to the TARDIS and unlocking it.

"Yeah, great!" Rory replied sarcastically, "Thanks…"

"Don't worry Rory," Evy laughed, "I know some very lovely, non life-threatening places you can go."

He gave her a smile and walked into the TARDIS, shutting the door.

"Are you…are you ok?" Amy asked, eyeing them.

"Course we're ok," the Doctor nodded, "You?"

"Course. It'll be their last day together, won't it?"

The Doctor looked down and Evy took his hand, giving him a soft smile, "Everything has to end sometime," she said, "Or else nothing would _ever_ begin."

Rory popped his head out, "Uh, your phone was ringing. Someone called Marilyn. Actually sounds like THE Marilyn."

"Doctor?" Amy raised an eyebrow at him.

"Tell her I…um…moved to Guam," the Doctor replied as Evy just laughed.

Rory gave them a look before shutting the door.

"Where are they?" Amy asked, looking around, "Kazran and Abigail?"

"Off on a little trip I should think."

"Where?"

"Christmas," Evy smiled.

"Christmas?" Amy asked.

"Yeah," the Doctor nodded, "Christmas."

Amy laughed and shook her head, going in the TARDIS as well.

The Doctor squeezed Evy's hand and looked up at the sky, "Halfway out of the dark," he sighed, kissing the back of her hand before they stepped into the TARDIS too.

~8~

True to her word, Evy had found a nice little planet for Amy and Rory to spend some quality time that didn't look like it would have any life-threatening situation for them to face. It was a lovely honeymoon planet, which was actually a planet _on_ a honeymoon. Somehow it had married an asteroid.

Evy and the Doctor laughed, waving at Amy and Rory from the doors of the TARDIS as the humans headed to a little hotel/resort. They walked back inside and sent the TARDIS into the Vortex, both silent a moment till the Doctor picked up a small box and walked over to Evy.

"Merry Christmas," he said, handing it to her. She smiled and looked down at the box, pulling the purple bow off of it and opening it. It was a small belt with a little sort of holster attached to it, "To complete your outfit," he commented, looking at her.

She laughed and gave him a kiss of thanks before taking his hand and pulling him away from the console and up the stairs.

"Where are we going?" he laughed as he was pulled through the halls.

"To your gift," was all she said, coming to a stop by a door he'd never seen before, "I asked the TARDIS to provide a room for it," she said, seeing his confused expression.

He nodded, still confused, even more so when she opened the door to reveal a small room, about the size of a moderate walk-in closet, that was completely empty.

"Take off your shoes," she said, taking hers off as well. He hesitated a moment, now thoroughly confused, but did as she said, pulling off his shoes and socks. She pulled him into the room, shutting the door behind her and walking to the middle of the room. She pulled a small sort of computer-like chip out of her pocket and placed it into a small notch in the floor in the center of the room. She took out her sonic and aimed it at the chip.

"Merry Christmas," she glanced at him before turning the sonic on.

Suddenly the room shimmered and they were no longer standing in the empty room.

His eyes widened and his mouth dropped open as he looked out at his favorite part of the beach on Gallifrey. Before him were the waves, rolling in from the burnt orange sky, the beach continuing down on either side of him, and behind was a hill of sand. He blinked before looking down in shock. He picked his foot up, he could literally, actually _feel_ the sand between his toes. He stepped to the side, his hand out in front of him as he walked, no simulation movements, until his hand came in contact with the wall. He walked back to where he'd been standing, looking around in amazement, tears in his eyes to not only see his home once more, but feel it. He could feel the breeze, smell the ocean, feel the warmth of the twin suns on his face as they just began to set.

"The beach…" he breathed.

"I know it was your favorite place to go back home," she said, "You could look out at the waters and imagine traveling them during the days, and look up at the stars at night. I've also made…there's also the mountains, the canyons, the fields, the Central Citadel, the Academy, the Untempered Schism…my house and yours."

"How?" he breathed, looking over at her.

"It's a projection, a holographic representation of Gallifrey. A bit of home you can visit if you get homesick."

"Yeah…" he nodded, still in awe, "But it's so... _real_ …how did you do it?"

"A bit of holographic technology, coupled with some simulators, some virtual reality tech, and a lot of sensors. Sort of experimented a bit. Took copies of my memories, of my sensations, and project them in the mind of whoever's in the room, makes them feel some of what I felt."

He shook his head, "But…but that sort of recreation is painful!" he spun to face her. The process to actually acquire the sensations to replicate was said to feel like tiny hot needles poking your brain.

"But it was worth it. To see _that_ look on your face when the projection started."

He looked at her and then around the beach before running to her, picking her up and swinging her around, his hearts swelling with happiness at the gift she'd made for him. He spun her so much he actually got dizzy and fell onto the sand, Evy falling on top of him, both of them laughing. He rolled them over, brushing some hair from her face as he smiled down at her.

"You know…now that Amy and Rory are gone on their honeymoon," he began, "And it doesn't look like they'll be calling us fearing for their lives anytime soon…" he grinned, "What's say we make the most of our time alone?"

He gave her a suggestive look and was answered by being pulled down and into a kiss he happily responded to, both getting thoroughly _distracted_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Awwww, I love the gifts they gave each other :) And how flustered the Doctor got about Marilyn. I just loved this chapter. I always felt so bad that the only thing the Doctor had of his home in the show was the TARDIS, I wanted to give him a bit more, so his own room that shows his home, where he can feel, just for a moment, that he's back, to know it's not truly lost forever, well, I think it's a wonderful gift :)
> 
> And the next chapter is the dynamic changer! Woo! I'm really excited about it. It's also the Sarah Jane Adventure, The Death of the Doctor, episode. I'd recommend watching it on youtube or something to better understand the chapter. I'll do my best to explain more of what is happening before the Doctor even appears (unlike in my Academic Series).
> 
> Next chapter...the Doctor gets another gift. We'll learn more about the legacy of Time Lord names, why the Doctor and Evy's true names are what they are. Something from The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith will come into play. And (my favorite part) the Doctor pulls a Malcolm.


	23. Death of the Doctor

Sarah Jane Smith ran out of her house with her son's friends Rani and Clyde after having been alerted by her computer Mr. Smith that there were armed soldiers outside, "Stop right there!" she called, marching over to the soldiers in red caps, "I'm not having soldiers on my property."

"Everything ok?" Rani's father called from across the street.

"Yes fine," Sarah Jane waved to him, "They're just leaving."

"Miss Smith, my name is Colonel Tia Karim representing the Unified Intelligence Taskforce," a brunette woman stepped forward, "If I could have a word in private…"

"No, no, no, you're not getting any closer," Sarah Jane held up her hand, stopping the woman, "Just tell me, what do you want?"

Tia took a breath before nodding, "I'm sorry, but it's my solemn duty to inform you that your friend, the Doctor, is dead."

"Don't be stupid," Clyde shook his head.

"He can't be!" Rani exclaimed.

Sarah Jane stood there, stone-faced, as Tia continued, "Last Sunday, at 1700 hours, the body of a Time Lord was returned to the Earth. UNIT scientists have checked the DNA results and it's definitely him. I'm sorry Miss Smith for your loss. Sorry for the whole wide world because he's gone. The Doctor's gone. He's dead."

~8~

They were standing in the attic, Sarah Jane looking out the window as Clyde and Rani sat behind her, Tia explaining what had happened, "The Doctor was found 10,000 light-years away by a race called the Shansheeth," Tia said, "They sent us this…" she held up a smooth sort of stone, "It's called an Epitaph Stone. It's a recording device the equivalent to a death notice," she handed it over to Sarah Jane, "The Shansheeth are what you might call 'intergalactic undertakers.'"

"Oh, come on," Sarah Jane scoffed, "This is ridiculous. There's no such thing."

Mr. Smith spoke up, "Sarah Jane, I can confirm the Shansheeth are known throughout the Universe as the carers of the dead. It is said they troll the battlefields of outer space, looking for heroes to bring home."

"Yeah?" Sarah Jane turned to half glare at the computer, stepping towards it, "Well that's quite enough from you, thanks. Just…shut up. Thanks," she dropped the stone into a little tray beneath the monitor, sliding it in to be scanned.

Mr. Smith brought up a projection of a rather large, vulture-like creature with what seemed like human hands, "I bring condolences from the Claw Shansheeth of the Fifteenth Funeral Fleet upon this terrible day…" the projection began when Sarah Jane paused it.

"Well, as if we can trust that thing, just _look_ at him!" she remarked.

"Hey that's not fair, since when did _we_ judge by appearances?" Rani argued.

"Since this lot started lying!"

"Ok, look," Rani got up and walked over to her, "I hope this is all a big mistake, I really do. But for the Doctor's sake we've got to find the facts. Which means we stop and listen."

"Yeah," Sarah Jane nodded, listening.

"Thanks," Rani smiled before turning back at Mr. Smith, "Mr. Smith."

The projection started playing again, "The Shansheeth did journey to the Wastelands of the Crimson Heart whereupon we found the body of the last Time Lord. Witnesses say that he perished saving the lives of 500 children from the Scarlet Monstrosity."

"Sounds like him," Clyde commented.

"The Doctor's home world is long since lost but legends talk of his love for the Earth, therefore the Shansheeth will return the Doctor to the human race. Oh weep for him, peoples of the Earth, mourn his loss. For the Universe feels darker tonight."

And then it was over.

Rani looked over at Sarah Jane, "So what do you think?"

She shook her head, glancing at Tia, "And what about Evy?"

"I'm sorry, who?" Tia asked.

Sarah Jane narrowed her eyes suspiciously, "His Link, the female Time Lord, the last Time Lady. What about her?"

Tia frowned, "The reports don't mention her. None of the witnesses claimed to have seen anyone with the Doctor when he arrived."

Sarah Jane just nodded and turned away.

"UNIT will take charge of the funeral in conjunction with the Shansheeth," Tia informed them, "We'll be using UNIT Base 5 which is located inside Mount Snowden. We can arrange transport and accommodation for all of you."

"Thank you," Sarah Jane said.

"Then you will come?"

"Oh yes," Sarah Jane turned to face her, "Nothing's going to make me miss this. I'll be there."

~8~

That night Sarah Jane sat in her attic, talking to her son on the video chat, "I always thought, if ever the Doctor dies, somehow I'd just _feel_ it. Wherever he is, far away on some distant star or lost in the depths of the Dark Ages, I'll _know_ …" she swiveled in the chair to look at him, "But I _didn't_. I didn't feel a thing."

"I know mum," Luke began, "But that doesn't actually _mean_ anything."

"Or maybe it does though, because I don't think he's dead. He _can't_ be. I'm gonna go to that funeral but only to find out what's going on. 'Cos I think the Doctor's still alive. This whole thing just doesn't make sense. There are parts that just don't fit…"

"Like what?"

"Tia didn't even know who Evy was. According to her, there were witnesses, yet no one saw Evy. You met her Luke, do you _really_ think she would _ever_ leave the Doctor or not find a way to be there as he _died_?"

Luke frowned, thinking of the sort of woman Evy was when last they met, "No…no, I don't."

She nodded, "He just can't be dead."

~8~

Sarah Jane, Rani, and Clyde were walking through UNIT headquarters, Tia leading them through hallway after hallway, "And we've allocated bedrooms," she was saying, "The funeral will take place at 900 hours tomorrow so that gives you time to acclimatize. The doors to the funeral wing will be sealed at 2100 hours. This is still a working military base so you'll only have access to the specified areas."

"That's nice," Sarah Jane commented, "Bring us all this way to tell us we're not trusted."

"So who else is coming?" Rani asked, trying to make up for Sarah Jane's lack of warmth.

"Well, it's all been a bit of a rush," Tia commented, "The Brigadier's stranded in Peru and Miss Shaw can't make it back from moon base until Sunday."

Sarah Jane's eyes narrowed. Yet another thing that didn't make sense.

"You've got a _moon base_?" Clyde asked, "Oh man, I am running out of reactions."

They turned a corner, coming to a T intersection, when Rani stopped short, noticing something to their right, "You've got Graske?" Rani gaped at the short alien standing by a ladder, "What are you doing with Graske?"

"I _knew_ it," Sarah Jane cut in, "I said there was something going on."

Tia frowned, "Sorry? What's the problem?"

"We've met Graske before and believe me they're trouble," Clyde replied.

"Oh! They're not Graske, they're _Groske_."

"Groske very different," a little blue Groske walked past them, "Groske are blue. Hate Graske. Graske make me stamp my feet," he then stamped his feet as he walked on.

"The Groske were stranded on Earth in 2006. We took them in and they've been earning their keep as workmen."

"Groske build rocket for funeral. Come and see! Come and see," he waved them on, leading them down the hall to the left, into a rather large silo.

"Rocket X15 will take the Doctor's body into space sealed inside a lead-lined coffin," Tia commented, "Then he'll be set free, in death as in life."

"Very poetic," Sarah Jane snapped, not at all thinking it was so.

" _I_ think it's beautiful," Rani chimed in, looking up, "Just what he deserves."

"What about the TARDIS?" Sarah Jane turned to the woman.

"There was no sign of it," Tia sighed, before stating solemnly, "The body was found all alone."

Sarah Jane's jaw tensed, and _another_ thing that didn't make sense, quite a few things.

Clyde whistled, looking at it, "Blimey though. Not a bad way to go. That's a real proper rocket!"

"Boy smells," the Groske said suddenly.

"Oh, thanks a bunch ya short little titch," Clyde glared at him.

"Clyde!" Rani scolded, "Of all the things for you to laugh at, height?"

"Yeah," the Groske looked up at him, "You smelly-bad-smell boy."

"You blue-bluey-blueness," Clyde tried to retort.

"Anyway," Tia cut in, "This area's about to be sealed off as part of the curfew, I can take you to your bedrooms, then the Shansheeth are holding a Gathering of Remembrance."

Tia walked out of the room, Sarah Jane and Rani following. Clyde moved to do so as well, wanting to get one small warning to the Groske, "Just watch it you…"

"But you see…" the Groske pointed to Clyde's hand which had started glowing in the palm with what looked like the TARDIS's Artron Energy, "So bright, you smell of time."

"What do you mean?"

"They are coming," was all the Groske said before he walked out.

Clyde looked back at his hand, which was normal again, before walking out as well.

~8~

"I don't know what they're planning," Sarah Jane said as they got their rooms sorted, waiting till the Remembrance began, "But I'm going to find out."

"Sarah Ja…" Rani began.

But Sarah Jane cut her off, "Didn't either of you notice the facts that didn't check?" they looked at her. She sighed, sitting down on the edge of a bed, "First off, they couldn't find _any_ other friends of the Doctor?"

"Well, it did happen a bit suddenly."

"Martha Jones. She used to work for UNIT, you can't tell me they couldn't contact _her_. And she had the numbers for that woman, Donna Noble. And Torchwood! Captain Jack should be here as well. They had the means to find all these different people and they _didn't_."

"Maybe they were busy," Clyde remarked.

"Too busy to help the Doctor? Never," Clyde and Rani shared a look, "And it's not just that."

Rani sighed and sat down as well, "What else?"

"He was found _alone_. You've both met Evy, I've told you about their Link, she could never, _ever_ leave the Doctor's side."

"Maybe she was helping the kids and didn't make it back," Clyde suggested.

Sarah Jane shook her head, "Tia said _no one_ saw her. And that _has_ to be a lie. She wouldn't just up and leave him. She couldn't. And if he died, she would feel it. She would be at his side in an instant."

"Maybe she got captured," Rani shrugged.

"Rani there's another part of the Link. If one dies before the other…it literally destroys them. If that happened, Evy wouldn't let go of him. They would literally have to pry him from her cold dead fingers to get his body here. So where is she?"

"Maybe…maybe she died," Clyde said quietly, "Maybe she died as well, and they just…didn't find her body."

"The ultimate _undertakers_ couldn't find a _body_?" she scoffed, "I'm telling you something…"

"Are you ready for the ceremony?" Tia asked, opening the door a bit and poking her head in, "It's due to start any minute."

"Yes, of course," Sarah Jane stood up, giving a meaningful look at the others before walking out.

Clyde sighed and looked over at Rani, "This is going to be harder than we thought, isn't it?"

Rani could only nod.

~8~

The Remembrance Ceremony had been beautiful, but rather empty. There were one or two soldiers around, Sarah Jane, Rani, and Clyde. They all sat down as one of the Shansheeth played the harp, allowing them to all think back on their memories of the Doctor. They were interrupted, though, by the appearance of an older blonde woman and her grandson, who turned out to be none other than another former companion to the Doctor, Jo Jones nee Grant.

Sarah Jane and Jo had both got to talking and suddenly, they were both dead set to believe the Doctor was alive. They were now in the bedroom, planning on making a list on who could have faked the Doctor's death and why. It was all too much for the kids who quickly made their way out to the corridors.

"It's tragic," Rani commented, "He's dead and they just can't face it."

"Never met the Doctor," Santiago, Jo's grandson, replied, "Always wanted to but too late."

"Wish he was here right now," Clyde said, looking down at his hand which had started sparking during the ceremony.

"Yeah, me too," Rani sighed.

Clyde stopped, "No, I _really_ wish he was here right now 'cos then he could explain _this_!" he held up his hand to show it, glowing with energy again.

"Clyde!" Rani gasped, turning to see it, "It's happening again!"

"I know! But I couldn't say anything, not inside UNIT, they'd lock me up and dissect me."

"Hold on," Santiago shook his head, "What do you mean 'it's happening again?'"

Clyde and Rani shared a look before she nodded and Clyde began to explain it, "Last time we met the Doctor, it was at Sarah Jane's wedding, he showed up with this girl…"

"Evy," Rani cut in, "She's the Doctor's Link."

Santiago's eyes widened, "His Link! Really?"

"You know about that?"

Santiago nodded, "My whole family was brought up on stories of the Doctor. Gran told us all about what a Link was…always said the Doctor didn't think he'd find his…guess he did."

"Actually she found him," Rani smiled. She still love hearing about that.

"Anyway," Clyde cut in, getting back to point, "We got stuck in this time loop thing and the TARDIS, the Doctor's time machine, kept phasing in and out of reality. But I touched it and got zapped with this, Artron Energy they said. It was part of the TARDIS."

"Whoa!" Santiago breathed, "And you thought _my_ life was good."

"Smellly getting closer!" the Groske called from down the hall.

Clyde spun around, holding up his non-glowing hand, "What do you know about this stuff?" he demanded.

"Closer and closer!" was all the Groske said, before running off.

"Oi!" Clyde shouted as they ran after him, "Come back here blue boy!" they turned down a few halls till they saw him trying to climb into the vents. They ran over, Clyde looking over at Rani, "You coming?"

"Yeah," Rani nodded, getting ready to get in but turned to Santiago, "Oh honestly we're fine, we do this sort of thing all the time."

"Hey my grandmother's handcuffed herself to Robert McGarby," Santiago called as Rani entered the vent as well, "I'm _loving_ it."

"Oi!" Clyde called in the vent, "Groskey! Where are you?"

"Clyde keep it down!" Rani ordered, "This is a top secret military place, they might shoot us dead. Oh and I kind of promised my dad I'd be in bed by half ten."

Clyde rolled his eyes as they continued down the vents, he paused when he heard the Shansheeth talking, "Such excellent and sorrowful memories…" a Shansheeth was saying as a harp was strummed.

Clyde crept over to the end of the vent, looking through it.

"What have we stopped for?" Santiago asked.

"Hush," Clyde called.

"Clyde, I'm staring at your _bum_!" Rani whined a bit.

"No seriously. Shh."

He turned back to see three Shansheeth standing around, "The women are named Smith, Sarah Jane, and Jones, Josephine," the first Shansheeth stated, "We must drain their minds."

"What of their bodies?" a second one asked.

"They will die. Fortunately there are excellent undertakers at hand."

"Guys, back up," Clyde told them urgently, "We have to get out of here…" his eyes widened as he saw his hand sparking, "No, no, no, no, no, no, no!" he looked up to see the Shansheeth had noticed him, "Back up, back up, back up!"

"We are witnessed!"

"There's no room to turn around," Santiago called.

"Go backwards!" Rani ordered, "Shuffle!"

"Faster, shuffle for your lives!" Clyde called as the Shansheeth pulled down the vent cover to see them. They shuffled as fast as they could, managing to get out of the vent the way they came, "We've got to get out of here ok?"

"Ok," Rani agreed. They turned and ran back to get Sarah Jane and Jo, to get out of there. They passed another hall just as Sarah Jane and Jo ran into them.

"There you are!" Sarah Jane cried.

"Sarah Jane, it's the Shansheeth," Clyde ran back over to them, "They're lying through their beaks. They want you and Jo! This whole thing's a trap."

"I _knew_ it!" Sarah Jane exclaimed.

"If they're lying that means the Doctor's still alive!" Jo reasoned.

"Yes!" Sarah Jane turned and high-fived Jo.

"Course I'm still alive Jo, I'd have _thought_ that was obvious," Clyde said, but it wasn't his voice speaking, "Catch up."

"I beg your pardon?" Jo asked.

"Clyde is that you?" Sarah Jane turned to him.

"Course it's not, it's _me_!" Clyde answered, "I'm using Clyde as a receiver. I've keyed into his residual Artron Energy to organize a very complicated biological swap across 10,000 light-years hold on…"

Suddenly Clyde was shocked with energy.

"That wasn't me," Clyde looked up, alarmed, "That wasn't _me_ speaking. I'm getting…" his eyes widened as he held up his hands, one now white, "That's not my hand. It's…my hand's not white."

He was shocked again, twisting and turning, a floppy-haired man in a tweed jacket and bow-tie appearing in his place on and off, "Sorry Clyde," the man apologized.

Clyde was back.

Then the man, "But…"

Clyde.

"This…" the man.

Clyde.

"Space…" the man

Clyde.

"Is…" the man.

Clyde.

"Taken!"

And suddenly another man in a bow-tie was standing where Clyde was, "Good…so, gosh that was different, hello everyone."

"Who are you?" Rani asked, but the man just looked at her, "Where's Clyde?"

"Come on Rani," he replied, "Use your brain. Clyde and I have swapped places. Yes, I'm where he was, so he's where I was, which means…"

"He's in a lot of trouble," another voice said from down the hall. Everyone looked over to see a blonde haired woman, dressed in a gray jacket and matching pants, which were tucked into black boots, and a light blue shirt, striding down the hall, her attention focused on him and she did not look happy, "And so are _you_ ," she walked right up to him and poked him in the chest, "Next time you want to do something like that can you at the very _least_ give me a bit of warning as to where you're trying to go? Do you have any idea how hard it is to track you down through time and space and then pinpoint your location using this?" she held up her arm to reveal a crude Vortex Manipulator, "It's not easy!"

"No, I know it's not," he agreed, holding up his hands in surrender, knowing she was angry, she hadn't breathed through any of that.

"Really?" she raised an eyebrow, "How hard is it? Hmm?"

"Um…nearly impossible," he answered, she nodded, about to speak, but he cut in, "But all that nearly impossible business, it doesn't really apply to you does it? You're just amazing."

She pointed her finger right in his face and he actually looked a bit scared, "Flattery will get you nowhere mister. When this is all over we're going to have a very serious discussion. I was trying to ask you something important!"

"What?" he frowned, concerned.

"We don't really have time for that, now do we? We have to help Clyde."

At the mention of Clyde Rani jolted, "You bring him back…whoever you are!"

"No, no Rani don't you see?" Sarah Jane interrupted, "It's you, isn't it? You've done it again? The both of you?" she looked at the woman, "Evy?" who nodded, and then at the man, "Doctor?"

"Hello Sarah Jane," he grinned.

" _That's_ the Doctor?" Rani stared at him.

"What Doctor?" Jo asked, " _The_ Doctor? My Doctor?"

"Well…he can change his face," Sarah Jane said.

"I know, but into a baby's?"

"Imagine it from my point of view," the Doctor said, "The last time I saw you Jo Grant you were what? 21? 22? It's like someone's baked you."

Sarah Jane smiled wider as she stepped between the Doctor and Evy, putting her arm around Evy's shoulders and moving her before Jo, "And _this_ is Evy," she introduced, "The Doctor's Link!"

Jo's eyes widened, "His _Link_! He's found her?!"

"Right," Evy nodded, "I'd forgotten you actually used to _tell_ your companions about the Link," she looked over at the Doctor, who looked back bashfully.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Jo gushed, hugging the woman to her and Evy couldn't help but smile.

"Everyone!" Santiago called, "Meanwhile…"

Three Shansheeth appeared down the hall, stalking towards them.

The Doctor grew serious, striding through the humans and straight over to the Shansheeth, Evy following after, "Ah, yes, the Claw Shansheeth of the Fifteenth Funeral Fleet, I've been looking for you!" he called, "Have you been telling people I'm _dead_?"

"I apologize, the death notice was released a little too soon…" the head Shansheeth spoke, "Though I can rectify this immediately!" he threw out his hand, firing a red beam of energy straight at the Doctor.

He didn't have any time to react…but Evy did.

He jumped back, only to see the energy beam striking what seemed to be an invisible wall. The head Shansheeth looked stunned, turning to his two others nodding at them to fire as well. Evy flinched, stumbling back as they all fired.

The Doctor reached out, grabbing her, silently offering her his strength as she fought to keep the wall up with her powers.

Apparently the Shansheeth could tell she was weakening as well, whether from the strain on her face or the blood that had started dripping from her nose, but the main Shansheeth laughed.

But suddenly…they were both gone, disappearing in a flash of Artron Energy.

They reappeared on another planet, the Crimson Heart. Evy collapsed to her knees, the Doctor immediately on his knees before her, wiping the blood from her nose and examining her. He rested his forehead against hers in thanks, she hadn't strained herself as much as she had on Midnight, but she had still strained herself. He always got nervous when she did things like that. She would be a bit tired and have a bit of headache for a while, but she was fine overall. He looked over at a contraption Evy had made which was not moving fast enough and back to Evy, "Can we use the Manipulator?"

She shook her head, "No…the energy fried it."

He looked over at the contraption, shaking it, "Faster, faster, faster!" it started whirring again, he looked over at Evy, "Wait here…" he walked over, kissing her quickly, "Rest, I'll be right back."

She nodded, not liking not going with him, but with the running they were sure to be doing in the base right now…she'd only slow them down.

The Doctor gave her a smile before he disappeared, reappearing on Earth, running behind Rani, Santiago, Jo, and Sarah Jane and into another room. Sarah Jane stopped at the door, looking stunned as the Doctor ran through instead of Clyde, "Come along Smith!" he shouted, running, as she followed after. They ran down another hall, the Doctor leading them towards a room, "In, in, in, in, in, in, in!"

"I'm sorry, is there a problem?" Tia asked, walking over to them.

The Doctor slammed the door in her face, opening it up quickly, "Sorry, I was…slamming it," and then he slammed it again, turning around, "Right, now we need to lock it, come on use the sonic lipstick."

Sarah Jane looked up at him, "Haven't you got the sonic screwdriver?"

"They took it."

Sarah Jane shook her head and went to lock the door as Jo stepped up, "Wow!" she smiled, "They do sonic lipsticks now?"

"Well, we're running out of time. I need you Sarah and you Jo…" he took their hands.

"Need us for what?"

"Remember the old days when I'd go zooming off to far away worlds?" he asked, and they appeared on the planet. The Doctor looked over to see Evy sitting beside the device, it starting to power down, "No, no, no, no…"

"We need to get it working properly," Evy told him.

"Where are we?" Sarah Jane looked up at the red sky with Jo.

"The Waste Land of the Crimson Heart," Evy called, smiling, "Earth's behind you and to the left…" she nodded back over her shoulder as they turned to look.

"Bit of a long walk," the Doctor commented, looking up at Sarah Jane, "Sonic please?"

"Wow," Jo breathed, looking around, "Oh, so many years since I was on another planet."

"Me too," Sarah Jane agreed, both of them looking back the way Evy nodded.

The Doctor stood up, laughing, happy, about to put his hands on their shoulder, before crouching down to help Evy with the device.

~8~

"There…" Evy pointed to a part of the device. The Doctor was holding a wire, ready to attach it as Sarah Jane soniced it, "…and there…"

"Did it hurt?" she asked, looking at them.

"…and there…" Evy nodded to an area by the Doctor's hand.

"I mean the regeneration. Those last bodies of yours, were they ok in the end?"

Evy didn't answer right away. Her last incarnation, she was content to just be with the Doctor, she had given her life to be able to start their next journey together, equal, both going through it together. But she knew the Doctor. His last incarnation had been more attached to his body, had more of a will to go on and remain how he was than the previous ones. It had been hard on him. Really…the only comfort he had was the fact that he wasn't alone.

"It always hurts," the Doctor said quietly.

"…and there," Evy pointed as well.

Sarah Jane seemed to notice the tension and changed topic, "So how did you end up in this place?" she stood up, dusting off her hands as the Doctor helped Evy up.

"The Shansheeth lured this one to a 'mighty old battle field just begging to be explored,'" she mimicked the Doctor, fondly shaking her head at him. He'd begged her for four hours straight, constant 'pleases' till she agreed.

"'Cos we're travelling with Amy now and Rory," the Doctor continued.

"They got married," Evy smiled, "And after the Doctor's failed attempt at giving them a honeymoon, I found a lovely honeymoon _planet_ for them."

He laughed, watching as Evy examined the device, fiddled with a few wires on the top, "Which isn't what you'd think. It's not a planet _for_ a honeymoon, it's a planet _on_ a honeymoon, it married an asteroid. And they nicked the TARDIS. The Shansheeth. Not Amy and Rory."

"Luckily there was all this wreckage, enough to build a…"

"Space wopping do-da thinga-ma-whatsit," the Doctor grinned.

"Why must you call it that?" Evy turned to face him, "It's an Intergalactic Molecular Streamer."

"I know," he smirked at her, "But it's so much more fun to say!"

Evy just shook her head.

"So you've got a married couple in the TARDIS?" Jo called over from where she was sitting on some debris.

"Mr. and Mrs. Pond," the Doctor laughed.

"I only left you because I got married."

Evy glanced up at the Doctor, this was something he had to do himself, so she turned to Sarah Jane, "…and there…"

"Did you think I was stupid?" Jo frowned, worried.

"Why do you say that?" the Doctor looked at her.

"Well…I was a bit dumb. Still am I suppose."

"Now what in the world would make you think that?" the Doctor walked over to her, "Ever, ever, ever?"

Jo sighed as the Doctor sat down next to her, "We'd been travelling down the Amazon for months and we'd reached a village in Cristalina and it was the only place for thousands of miles that had a telephone. So I called you. I just wanted to say hello. And they told me that you'd left, left UNIT, never came back. So I waited. I waited because you said you'd see me again. You did. I asked you and you said yes. You _promised_. So I thought, one day I'd hear that sound deep in the jungle, I'd hear that funny wheezing noise and a big blue box right in the middle of the rainforest. 'Cos, see, he wouldn't just leave, not forever. Not me. I waited my whole silly life…"

Evy smiled, she could relate to Jo, she knew how it felt to wait for the Doctor.

"Oh but you're an idiot," the Doctor told her.

"Well there we have it," Jo laughed, sniffling.

"No, no, no but don't you see?" he smiled at her, "How could I ever _find_ you? You spent the past 40 years living in huts, climbing up trees, staring down barricades. You've done everything from flying kites on Kilimanjaro…" he looked over at Evy who smiled and nodded, "Sailing down the Yangtze in a tea chest. Not even _the_ _TARDIS_ could pin you down."

"Hold on…" Jo blinked, turning to him, shocked, "I _did_ sail down the Yangtze in a tea chest. How did you know?"

"And that family. All seven kids, twelve grandchildren, thirteenth on his way, he's dyslexic but that'll be fine."

"Great swimmer," Evy called.

Jo looked between the two, stunned, before looking back over at the Doctor, "So you've been watching me, all this time?"

"No," he shook his head sadly, "Because you're right, I _don't_ look back, I _can't_. But…" he glanced over at Evy, a soft smile on his face, thinking of the relationships she'd maintained with their past companions and friends, "Evy's slowly been changing my mind about that…which is something when you think about it," Jo laughed, so happy to see him happy now, "But, you know, the last time I was dying, Evy and I looked back on all of you, _every single one_ , and…I was so _proud_."

"It really is you, isn't it?" Jo smiled.

The Doctor just smiled in return, "Hello!"

Suddenly a whistling noise rang out. They looked over to see Sarah Jane handing Evy back a whistle before standing up, "Sorry, but we've got that lot back at home with the Shansheeth."

"Yes, yes," the Doctor stood up and walked over to the device, "And uh…"

"It's your turn Jo," Evy smiled, "I smell black currant in your bag, buchu oil yes?"

"Handpicked in Mozambique," Jo smiled, handing it over.

"Just perfect!" Evy took it, opening the top of the device, "All these circuits need is connectivity."

"Wonderful!" the Doctor smiled at them all. All his girls, working together, "Little tiddly drops…that's it! What a team."

They all just looked at him a moment before laughing.

"There," Evy put the top back on, "That should work! Intergalactic molecular streaming with just a hint of black currant, that's a first for me."

"Oh, but what'll happen to Clyde?" Sarah Jane stopped them from activating the device again.

"Oh, no, no, no," the Doctor shook his head, "Evy fixed it, she's brilliant at that," he took Evy's hand, "All we needed was you two. Oil and sonic. Now we can go back and Clyde can stay where he is. Hold tight."

Sarah Jane and Jo grabbed onto the Doctor's hands while Evy just put her arms around his neck and they appeared in the hallway of UNIT, where they could hear shouts coming from the vents.

"Whoops!" the Doctor called as they ran to the vent cover, "Then again, maybe leaving Clyde in the same place wasn't such a good idea."

"Look out!" Sarah Jane called, "Stand back!" she flashed the sonic lipstick against the cover, breaking it off.

"Ah!" the Doctor grinned, "Ventilation shaft," he nudged Evy, "That takes me back…"

"Takes me forwards," Evy laughed, crawling in after the Doctor.

"Hurry up!" Santiago called, "They're going to boil us alive."

"Hold on, we're coming!" the Doctor shouted from the vent.

"Don't worry Santiago, I'm here!" Jo called behind them.

Suddenly there was a banging and the sound of struggling.

"Doctor!" Rani shouted.

The Doctor and Evy looked back, "Jo?" he called.

"Sarah?" Evy shouted.

"They're roasting us!" Clyde called.

"I'll get Sarah and Jo," Evy turned to him, already starting to shuffle back, "You help them!"

He nodded.

"Let us out!" Rani called.

The Doctor continued forward.

Evy shuffled back and was half pulled out of the vent and into the arms of a Shansheeth. The three birds led them, struggling, back to some sort of control room with two boards set up on either side of the room, one offline in the back, a spare, the coffin in the center of the room. Evy eyed the controls and the boards carefully.

"Oh Colonel!" Sarah Jane shouted, catching sight of Tia, "I didn't trust you from the moment I met you!"

Jo gasped, seeing the TARDIS in the back of the room, behind the control panel.

"Oh like I care," Tia sneered, "I've never met anyone so staggeringly pious in all my life. Now then…" she hit a button and the doors behind them slammed shut, "The chamber's sealed off. The Doctor would need half a ton of dynamite to get in that."

Evy snorted, "He doesn't need to get in."

"And why's that?"

" _I'm_ here," Evy smirked.

"And you are?" Tia raised an eyebrow.

"I'm his Link."

"And a Link is what?"

Evy nearly laughed, that woman really hadn't done any research on them had she? Her mistake, "We can communicate telepathically," Evy told her, "He'll know everything that you're doing, everything in this room, every possible way in…it'll be like he's in the room with us."

Tia glared, "Put her in the machine!" she ordered, "And shut her down!"

Sarah Jane and Jo started to struggle, trying to help Evy who was led to the board in the back of the room and strapped in. Just before Tia hit a control, Evy winked at the two women before she was forced unconscious.

Jo looked back over at the controls, her eyes on the TARDIS.

Tia looked over her shoulder, seeing the women looking that way, "That's what this is all about. The TARDIS and you. Place them in the Memory Weave."

Sarah Jane made a mental note of the machine. When the Doctor came to rescue them, he'd need to know what he was facing now that Evy wasn't awake to tell him.

~8~

The Doctor was in the vents, at a small red device on the wall that was locking the kids in the room on the other side of a wall, he rubbed his head, "And…release!" he tweaked a wire and the button turned green. The door slid open and he came face-to-face with Clyde.

"Blimey!" the boy gasped, eyes widening, as he looked at the Doctor, "You really _have_ changed faces, haven't you? I couldn't see you before I was too busy swapping. So that was Evy on that planet?"

"Oi!" Rani called, "We're still cooking back here."

"Where's my Gran?" Santiago asked.

"Right, yes, sorry, uh," the Doctor began, "She's in danger…along with Sarah Jane…and my Link…so we better…uh," he tried to turn around, "Can't turn round."

"You'll have to shuffle backwards," Clyde told him.

"Oh, yes, ok, thank you Clyde," he nodded, shuffling backwards as Clyde, Rani, Santiago, and the Groske followed him into the vent.

"Even your eyes are different!" Clyde commented, "It's weird 'cos I thought the eyes would stay the same…can you change color or are you always white?"

"No, I can be anything."

"And is there a limit? I mean, how many times can you change?"

The Doctor nearly rolled his eyes, growing exasperated, and threw out a number, "507."

"Oh…" Clyde nodded.

The Doctor suddenly stopped. His eyes looking down at the paneling as though seeing something through it, "We have to hurry," he told them, backing out faster. Something had happened, Evy's mind had been forced into unconsciousness.

~8~

"Hang on then, tell us," Sarah Jane called, "What exactly does this Memory Weave do?"

"'Cos I warn you darling, the memory's going at my age," Jo added.

"You need only remember one thing," the head Shansheeth stated.

"And what's that?" Sarah Jane asked.

"The TARDIS key."

"The Weave takes the memory out of your head," Tia told Sarah Jane, checking her restraints, "And makes it real. This device can build a physical key out of your thoughts."

"And then we will have access to the TARDIS. The most miraculous machine in creation will be ours."

"No…" Sarah Jane breathed.

No one noticed Evy twitch.

~8~

In the hall outside the vent, the Doctor stopped, both sensing Evy waking up as well as the machine starting, "It's started!" he shouted, running off down the hall.

"How do you know where they are?" Clyde called, following after him.

"Evy's with them. I'm just following the pull in my mind…"

~8~

"No!" Jo shouted, "You can't!" Tia tightened her restraints, "Ow!"

"We have seen so much of death," the head Shansheeth said, "The Shansheeth have presided over infinite funerals. We see the pain and the suffering again and again and again, but, with the TARDIS, we can stop this. We can intervene to prevent the loss of life in the universal scale."

"You want to _stop death_?" Sarah Jane gasped.

"It is a noble quest. To halt the endless, endless weeping."

"And change the whole of history! That's why creatures like you can't have time machines 'cos you'll wreck the entire Universe!"

"What did I say?" Tia sneered, "Pious."

"Oh yeah? Well I'd rather be pious than vile! What do _you_ get out of this plan?"

"A bigger horizon Miss Smith. The Shansheeth can take me to the stars because there is nothing left for me here on Earth, not anymore. Accelerate the Weave!"

There was a sudden bang on the door, "Oh they've sealed it off!" they faintly heard the Doctor comment, "Jo, Sarah, can you hear me?"

"Doctor!" they shouted.

"Is Evy there? Is she alright?"

"She's unconscious," Jo called back.

"Oh no she's not," they could practically hear the grin in his voice.

They all looked over at Evy to see her awake and smiling at them.

"How?" Tia demanded, trying to get the board to shut her down again.

Evy just shook her head, "You should never have hooked me up. My mind works differently than theirs, and you've got the boards set for human. All you've done is help connect me to Sarah Jane and Jo's mind, I've been blocking the machine."

"They want the key!" Sarah Jane called to the Doctor, "They've got the TARDIS and a Memory Weave!"

"Too late," Tia glared, "Try to stop this! Full activation!"

Evy winced, trying to keep the machine from fully affecting Jo and Sarah Jane. It was hard enough to tap into the mind of one human, but to do two at the same time, even with the Memory Weave connecting them...it was difficult...

"Concentrate think of the key," the Shansheeth ordered.

"Try and find a way in!" the Doctor shouted to the kids.

"There's nothing!" Santiago called, "We're gonna need a bulldozer!"

"I've got the original here you can have it but let them go!"

"You let the Doctor inside this room and he will destroy us," Tia shouted, "Keep going!"

"Think of the TARDIS," the Shansheeth said again.

Evy focused, trying to project to Sarah Jane and Jo, get them to think _only_ of the TARDIS and not the key…so far it was working…

"The key, remember," the Shansheeth called.

"Fight it Sarah Jane!" Jo called, "Try to think of something else."

"I can't!" Sarah Jane shook her head.

"Neither can I!"

"The memories coalesce!" the Shansheeth shouted. An orange light shot out of Sarah Jane and Jo's foreheads, merging in the air in the middle of the room, forming a little ball, the key vaguely forming in the middle, "The key! It takes shape."

Evy closed her eyes, ' _I can't fight the machine any more!_ ' she called to the Doctor, ' _It's at full power…it's taxing to try and block just one memory, but the both of them…_ '

"Don't!" Jo shook her head, "Don't!"

' _Why hasn't it gotten you?_ ' he asked her, worried.

"I can't stop!" Sarah Jane gasped.

' _My memories are too strongly guarded I suppose,_ ' she guessed.

"What do we do Doctor?" Clyde asked, "What do we do?"

'… _too strong…_ ' the Doctor thought.

"Yes…" he breathed, "Because…the Shansheeth are _making_ them _remember_."

"I know!" Clyde shouted.

"But don't you see…"

"I don't see anything!"

"We do the same. Opening comms.. Yes!" his voice echoed through the room, "Sarah, Jo, Evy! Can you hear me?"

"The key!" Sarah Jane shouted, "It's almost ready!"

"Listen to me all of you. I _want_ you to remember."

"We _are_ doing it," Jo said, "That's the trouble."

"No, no, no, I want you to remember _everything_. Every single _day_ with me. Every single _second_."

"Brilliant!" Evy shouted.

"What's he doing?" Tia demanded.

"'Cos your memories are more powerful than anything else on this planet," he told them, "So think of them Sarah, remember them Jo. But properly, _properly_. Give the memory everything. Every planet, every face, every madman, every loss, every sunset, every scent, every terror, every joy, every Doctor. Every me."

"I remember," Sarah Jane cried as she thought back.

"No!" Tia shouted.

"Memory Weave overloading," the computer announced.

"I remember!" Jo smiled, remembering as well.

"We need that key!" Tia yelled, "What is happening?" the key disappeared, "What is happening?"

"Initial target lost," the computer announced.

"The device is overloading," the Shansheeth declared, "Too many memories. Too many!"

"You made the biggest mistake ever," the Doctor called to them.

"And what's that?" Tia spat.

"You hooked up a Time Lady with a mind more powerful than a human's. And with over 800 years of memories!" he spoke to the kids, "Come on! Come on! Tell them! Tell them!"

"Remember us Sarah Jane!" Clyde called, "Remember Maria and her dad. And all the stuff we did. Like the Gorgon."

"And the clones!" Rani added, "And the zodiac. And the Mona Lisa!"

"All of it!" Sarah Jane smiled, "All of it!"

"Just think Gran!" Santiago called, "All the countries you've been to!"

"Every country in the world," Jo laughed.

The Weave sparked.

' _Evy…_ ' the Doctor smiled, she was thinking about every memory of him, every memory she'd seen in his mind when she'd Linked to him.

"Weave starting self destruct," the computer announced.

Sarah Jane's restraints disengaged, "We've broke a circuit!"

"I can't get out!" Jo called. Sarah Jane pulled herself out and ran over to her friend.

"I've got you!" she called, glancing over at Evy who was getting out of her restraints well enough.

"Now we're in trouble," the Doctor said to the children, "The Weave's about to blow up…and we can't get them out."

"What?" Rani gasped.

"You can't escape!" the Shansheeth called, "We need the key!"

"Weave now entering detonation phase," the computer announced.

"I can't unseal the door!" Tia shouted as the controls sparked, "The power's gone!"

Sarah Jane, Jo, and Evy ran over to the door, Sarah Jane pulling out her lipstick but it was dead, "We've drained it…" she breathed, before banging on the door, "Doctor! Doctor! We can't get out!"

"I can't open it," the Doctor breathed on the other side of the door.

"No sonic screwdriver."

"They're inside the TARDIS."

"And we can't get in 'cos guess what. We stopped ourselves from getting the key…"

"But guess what!" Evy shouted, "You've got _me_!" she grabbed their arms and pulled them back to the TARDIS. She shoved one of the Shansheeth, who was tugging on the door, off to the side and ran her finger across the lock, unlocking it, never more thankful that the TARDIS seemed to like her well enough to never make her use a key. She quickly ushered them in, "Get in!" she glanced back at the door, "Doctor! Get back!" she shut the door behind her, locking it, and leading them over to the console, to duck down just incase.

Moments later there was a terrible jolt and the TARDIS rocked a bit, throwing them to ground. But then it settled down, the girls started laughing, hugging each other in happiness. Then there was the sound of a lock turning and the door flew open, the Doctor and kids running in, everyone hugging, happy to be safe once more.

~8~

The TARDIS appeared in Sarah Jane's attic, the kids all walking out, leaving the adults to talk amongst themselves, "Still the same old TARDIS," Jo smiled fondly, "Doesn't matter what's changed. Still smells the same…" she inhaled deeply, "Nope. Gotta say goodbye or else I'd stay with you forever."

"We'd love to have you," Evy told her, looking at her and Sarah Jane, "Both of you. You ever want another adventure, just give us a call," she tossed a small device over to them, like a small recorder, a communication device.

"Oh, I think I'm good for now," Jo replied, keeping the device regardless, "I probably couldn't keep up anymore. Get either of you into trouble with the Time Lords."

The Doctor tensed, Evy taking his hand as he cleared his throat, not really wanting to have to tell her about what happened to their people, "Yeah, we probably better go…you know me, stuff to do."

"It's daft though 'cos we were both saying," Sarah Jane began, "We had this theory that, if you ever die, we'd feel it somehow, we'd just _know_. That's silly, isn't it?"

"I don't know," he turned to them, "Maybe not, 'cos between you and me, if that day ever comes I think the whole Universe might just shiver," he was silent for a moment, before jolting at them, "Boo!"

Sarah Jane and Jo jumped, startled.

Evy shook her head as he laughed, "But seriously though, I think you _would_ know," she stepped forward, taking each of their hands in her own, "The Doctor just...touches people's hearts and minds, he leaves an impression on you whether you know it or not, and when that impression disappears, you'd feel it. So yes, I think you'd know if that day ever came...which it won't," she smiled, "Not if I have anything to say about it."

Sarah Jane and Jo seemed reassured by her words, laughing and giving her a hug before hugging the Doctor once more and walking out. Watching as the TARDIS disappeared.

~8~

"So…what was it you wanted to ask me?" the Doctor asked as he dashed around to the other side of the console.

"It wasn't anything bad," she reassured him, sensing a hint of concern from him, "I just…" she sighed, "You once said that Arthur was a good name for a horse, yeah?"

"Yeah," he said slowly, not sure where that was coming from.

"Well, I just wanted to ask if you thought Arthur was a good name for a child."

"Oh yeah!" he smiled, "Excellent name. Got King Arthur, great man, interesting bloke, bit of a talker. Tends to ramble…oh!" he ran to the key pad, "I should introduce you! It's amazing how close the legends are to what actually happened…I mean, no Excalibur, no wizards unless you count yours truly, no Lady of the Lake, no…well…actually not much like the legends at all really. Great conversation though! Why do you ask?"

She shrugged, "I was just trying to think of names for our child."

"Well, I'd say we'd have to go with more Gallifreyan names," he rambled, "Tradition dictates males follow the father's family, so if it was a boy, it would be names something related to the Greek alphabet, but females follow the mother's, much more options for Sol system names though, but we don't exactly have to stick to that. I mean tradition is great and all but we could stray just a bit if we wan…" he stopped suddenly.

Evy turned around to lean on the console, sensing he had just realized something.

His head peeked around the side of the rotor, "Did…did you just say…our child?"

She smiled softly and walked along the console, her hand trailing the edge of it, thinking of the last time Sarah Jane had been in the control room, with Luke and Rani and Clyde, what she'd said to him about children in the TARDIS. That there would be, one day, one day very soon it seemed.

She came to a stop beside him. She reached out and took his hand in her own, bringing it to rest on her stomach, "Our child."

"Ou…our chi…chil…"

And then something happened that completely threw her.

The Doctor's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he fell backwards onto the floor of the TARDIS. Evy looked down at him, blinked, and then sighed. Here he was, the man who could look a Dalek in the eyestalk…out cold from just a bit of news.

"Well…that was unexpected."

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of a long A/N...
> 
> AHHH! Are you screaming? Doing a little happy dance? Laughing hysterically at the Doctor's Malcolm-like reaction? I know I am. Lol, this little development certainly changes quite a few things doesn't it? Dealing with the Silence, while pregnant, and with the whole Lake Silencio thing, AND who River Song is to them...let's just say, IF they can make it through that, they'll be stronger than ever. But I'm not saying what will happen...you'll have to wait to find out :)
> 
> As for the names, I've made Time Lord families based on a patri/matriarchy, legacies are important. I take that as more of a lineage thing, like Liz 10 is the tenth Elizabeth and so on. Here the names for each family follow a similar pattern, girls following their mother, boys their father. I don't know how these categories for names would start, but I thought it would be cool, another tradition to add. As for the Master (Terrin, which is similar to Earth's Terra) I see it as, perhaps their father was named after an inhabited planet, like planets that can sustain life (ironic as the Master tends to try and destroy people's lives). It would just be an added bonus that it also hints at the mother's line of Sol system names. And when you think about it, Earth is the only planet with one moon, so it's almost like a sibling-like relationship there with the names too :)
> 
> I know that UNIT is fully aware that Evy exists, that they have records of her. But I wanted to give Sarah Jane another reason to be suspicious, I wanted something to really ring out as being off about this whole thing. I figure Tia, if she's just trying to get Sarah Jane and Jo there wouldn't care about anyone else who's with the Doctor, just doing whatever she needs to to get them there. And really, she'd expect Jo to come for the Doctor, Jo wouldn't know who Evy was. Speaking of, I really wanted to put in a little bit about the Link and how the Doctor used to tell his companions about it. I feel like, even then he had a subconscious tiny little hope he might one day find his Link, but after the war it was completely gone so he never talked about it.
> 
> The next chapter will be an original chapter and will be the last one for this series, so keep an eye out for it :) And, since I'm not giving away what the next chapter is about, I'll give a few more 'next time' hints.
> 
> Next chapter...Evy's not the only one dealing with a child. Stories are shared from one generation to the next. Questions are asked and given excited answers. A family grows larger. But how will the Doctor deal with the idea of a baby once he has time to come to terms with the news?


	24. Family Reunion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Very happy to say that the stolen stories on wattpad were taken down :) No apology for it, but I've learned not to expect any, I'm just glad they were removed.
> 
> Chapter Warning: the very beginning of the chapter includes a nightmare involving miscarriage and death, the italic part is the nightmare.

_It didn't cry. Evy screamed, but it didn't cry. And then…Evy didn't scream anymore. They were both quiet, unmoving, covered in blood. They were gone. Both of them._

_The Doctor looked down at the baby, lying unmoving in his arms and over to Evy slumped in the bed, her unseeing eyes open and staring at him blankly._

_They were gone. They were dead. All over again…he was alone…_

The Doctor jumped up in bed with a gasp, breathing heavily as the remnants of the nightmare he'd just experienced made their way through his system. He put a hand to his head, feeling the thin layer of sweat there even though he felt so cold. He shut his eyes tight, his hand now resting on his right heart, pounding away in time with his left. He took a breath, steeling himself and looked over to his right. The air left his lungs in a heave of relief at seeing Evy lying there on her side, breathing and fine, alive.

He squeezed his eyes tight again, feeling the tears building up there as he turned and laid down right behind her, pulling her to him. He wrapped his arms around her tightly, lightly resting a hand on her still-flat stomach where their child was growing, no larger than the size of a thumbnail at this point. He rested his head on her shoulder a moment before nuzzling his face into her neck, burying it in her hair as the tears finally began to fall.

~8~

Evy blinked as she woke up, false sunlight streaming in from a false window the TARDIS had put in the bedroom. She frowned, realizing something was off, and looked over her shoulder, knowing what it was. The Doctor wasn't there. She sat up more in bed, about to get out of it, to go look for him, when the door to the room opened and the Doctor stepped in, carrying a tray of breakfast.

"Breakfast!" he cheered, smiling at her as he moved to place the tray on her lap, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"What's this for?" she asked, laughing at the surprise.

"For you," he told her, placing a napkin on her lap, "I can't make my lovely Link breakfast?"

"You _could_ …" she began, lifting up a lid from the plate to see he actually seemed to have made waffles that looked edible, "But you usually tend to set fire to the kitchen when you try…" she trailed, her eyes widening, "You didn't set fire to the kitchen did you?"

"No, no, no. I was very, _very_ careful this time."

She eyed him a moment, "Why doesn't that make me feel any better?"

He just gave her a small kiss, "Eat your breakfast."

She gave him a smile and went to pick up a fork to dig in, when the Doctor reached out and snatched it from her. She frowned, watching as he cut her a piece and held it up for her to take. She leaned forward and ate it, eyeing him more, "You do know I can feed myself yeah?"

"It's fine," he said, cutting another piece, "You just rest. Just sit there, and rest. It'll be fine. Everything'll be fine. It'll be fine…"

She frowned, seeing him trailing off towards the end, he wasn't talking to her anymore, he was trying to convince himself.

He moved to feed her another piece but she reached out and lowered his arm, taking his hand in her own, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing!" he said quickly, "Why would you think something's wrong?"

She tilted her head, "What aren't you telling me?"

He looked away and she reached out, tilting his head back to face her. She nearly gasped, seeing the tears in his eyes. She quickly moved the tray to the other side of the bed and sat up more, pulling him towards her in a hug. He grabbed her tightly, burying his face in her hair, and then his shoulders began to shake with quiet sobs.

"Theta," she whispered, concern filling her voice as she tried to soothe him, something had to be very wrong for him to be crying, "What's wrong?"

He didn't answer, just rested his head against hers, allowing her to see the dream he'd been trying to hide from her, "You can't go," he whimpered brokenly, hugging her tightly as soon as the memory had played itself again, the fear seizing him once more, "Please, you can't leave me...I...I can't...please don't..."

"I won't," she promised, "Not ever."

"But…" he swallowed hard.

"That's just a _dream_ ," she pulled back, wiping his tears away with her thumbs as she looked him straight in the eye, "Everything _will_ be _fine_."

"You can't _know_ that."

"You're right. I can't see that far ahead but I know you and I know me, and _we_ will make it. Everything will work out in the end."

"I couldn't save you," he breathed, "Either of you…"

"Now that will _never_ happen," she smiled at him, "You always save me, you always find away."

"Not that time," he shook his head, "I failed you…"

"Hey, hey, hey. The only way you could _ever_ fail me would be if you didn't try, and you _never_ give up," she pulled him back to her arms, "Theta, things will be fine…"

"I can't lose anyone else," he murmured. He couldn't he just couldn't. He'd spent so much time thinking he was alone, that he was the last, to find out that another one of his people survived, that his _Link_ survived, to have her with him...he couldn't go back to that. He couldn't be in that place again, alone, the last. He couldn't lose her.

"And you won't. I'm not Riku. And this child isn't Eta. It's not Jenny either. We're _different_. _This_ will be different," she looked him straight in the eye, "I'm not going anywhere, remember?" he swallowed, nodding just a bit, "What else is bothering you?" she asked, sensing that, while this was a large part of the iceberg, the tip still had to be discovered.

"I…I've never been a proper father before," he admitted, "What…what if I'm not a good one?"

Evy blinked, torn between laughing at the absurd thought that he could _ever_ be a horrible father and wanting to kiss him…needless to say the kiss won out in the end.

When she pulled away the Doctor was slightly breathless and had a small smile on his face, "You will be _amazing_ ," she reassured him, "Because the man you are in here," she placed her hand in the center of his chest where she could feel his dual heartbeats perfectly, "Could be nothing less than that when it comes to children," she gave him another kiss, "And you won't be alone you know. I've never been a proper mother either," she took his hand in hers, squeezing it lightly, "We'll figure it out. Together."

"You'll be perfect," he smiled at her, kissing her forehead. He moved to place the tray back on her lap but she reached out and pushed him back a bit. He gave her a confused look but she just scooted over and patted the bed where she'd been lying. He smiled and sat down next to her properly as she set the tray in between the two of them so they could share the meal.

~8~

"Amy!" Evy shouted, waving, as she and the Doctor stood outside the resort, ready to pick up the newlyweds after their two week (to them) honeymoon, "Rory! Over here!"

Amy and Rory looked over and waved, coming back to the TARDIS, "So what now Doctor?" Amy asked, ready and excited for another set of adventures that she could share with her husband. Rory groaned a bit but Amy just smacked him lightly on the chest to quiet him.

The Doctor laughed, "We were actually planning to visit some old friends of ours. Would you like to join? Or should we find you another planet?"

"These friends of yours…" Amy began, eyeing them, "Do you mean friends? Or…"

Evy shook her head, "All previous companions are our very best friends. But yes," she nodded, "That's who we were talking about."

"I'd, uh," Rory began, "I'd actually like to meet some of them," hearing that there had been previous companions who were alive and well for them to visit gave him a world of hope that Amy would be alright traveling with the Doctor and Evy. Not that he wouldn't do everything in his power to protect her himself, but still...to know that others had survived the insanity and danger...that they all had futures...it was a comfort.

"Great!" the Doctor called, whirling around to head to the console to put in coordinates for their first stop.

"Why the sudden need to visit them?" Amy asked as she walked into the TARDIS with Evy, Rory following.

"We…have a bit of news we want to share with them," Evy began.

"Big news!" the Doctor called, practically flittering to the different controls, "Big, big news! The biggest!"

Evy laughed and walked over to him, taking his hands in her own to try and calm him down. After a rather long discussion that morning about parenthood and precautions, the Doctor seemed to calm down in terms of his fears regarding Evy and the baby dying and his possible failure as a father, and was now in the excited stage. Evy could only guess what months of that sort of Doctor would do to her nerves.

"What news?" Amy asked, laughing as the Doctor twisted out of Evy's hands, giving her a peck in the process, and raced around the controls again.

"Well…" Evy turned to face them, leaning on the console, "While you were at the resort, the Doctor and I discovered something pretty…huge."

"What?" Rory frowned.

"We're having a baby!"

"What?" Rory and Amy shouted, their eyes wide.

"Geronimo!" the Doctor yelled, pushing a lever that sent the TARDIS spinning off into the Vortex, leaving them all to hang on for dear life.

~8~

"A baby?" Amy asked as they stepped out of the TARDIS, "As in…a tiny person?"

Evy laughed, Amy was still in shock from the news, "Yes, a tiny Time Lord…"

"Or Lady," the Doctor chimed in, sweeping Evy into his arms and spinning her around.

After his brief stint of crippling fear and Evy's reassurances that everything would be fine…and it would be because Evy never lied to him…his hearts had swelled with joy at the thought that he was going to have a child, a real and true family of his own. His companions were great, fantastic truly, but...this was a _child_ , a son or daughter that would be his and Evy's, their flesh and blood...after losing his planet...he'd thought the chance was gone. This was incredible!

"Or Lady," Evy agreed with another laugh.

"A baby Time Lord?" Amy blinked, trying to wrap her head around it.

"Congratulations!" Rory smiled, hugging Evy before shaking the Doctor's hand. He didn't want to say it out loud, but even after getting married to Amy, he was still a bit insecure when it came to the Doctor and Amy together, even though he knew the Doctor only had eyes for Evy…this sort of just cemented it in his mind that Amy was safe and _his_.

"Thank you!" Evy beamed.

"That's great!" Amy finally managed to shake herself out of her thoughts, "I'm so happy for you!" she ran forward giving Evy a bear hug as well as the Doctor. And truly she was. She had seen the loss and the pain in the Doctor's eyes whenever he or Evy talked about the war, about what happened, he deserved this happiness, he and Evy, more than anyone.

"So…where are we?" Rory looked around. It seemed to be a rather nice street.

"London," Evy replied as the Doctor took her hand and led her down the street.

They got about halfway down before they came to a nice two-story house. The Doctor rang the doorbell and moments later the door opened to reveal none other than…

"Martha!" Evy shouted, launching herself at the startled woman.

Martha's eyes widened as a strange blonde woman threw herself into her arms, pulling her into a hug. She slowly patted her back, absolutely flabbergasted as to what was going on, till she saw a man in a tweed coat and bow-tie smiling at her. She frowned, eyeing him a moment, he seemed to be waiting for her to realize something…

"Evy?" she asked after a moment. No one she knew hugged her like this, it was such an Evy thing to do, both incarnations she'd known of the woman hugged the same way, throwing herself at them and into a hug. And...no one else would possibly wear as odd an outfit as that man if not the Doctor.

"Glad to see you figured it out," Evy smiled, pulling back.

"Doctor?" Martha gaped at him, he was _much_ different than his previous self.

"Martha Jones!" he shouted, striding forward and giving her two gallic air kisses, to which she looked at him as though he were mad, before he scooped her up into a hug, lifting her off the ground and swinging her side-to-side a bit.

"Actually it's Smith now," Martha laughed, hugging him as well.

"Right, right," he nodded, putting her down and pulling back, "You and Mickey."

Martha smiled broadly at the mention of her husband. It had been a bit of an odd pairing at first, but she and Mickey had really bonded. They'd both had a bout of being second best, her to Rose and him to the Doctor, both had felt the same pain and discovered the same strength and had found each other because of it. Now though, they were happier than they'd ever imagined they could be.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, looking between the two of them, "The world's not ending again is it? I mean, Mickey and I still do some freelance work here and there but we're not about to go gallivanting across the Universe again and…"

"No, no," Evy laughed, stepping into the house and motioning Amy and Rory to come in, "We just wanted to drop by, say hello, introduce you to the latest companions..."

"Companions?" Martha raised an eyebrow, "Plural?"

"Meet the Ponds," the Doctor grinned, gesturing at Rory and Amy.

"Williams," Rory mumbled under his breath, though not at all put off. He'd long ago resigned himself to being Amy's 'whipping boy' as she called it once.

"This is Amy," Evy introduced, "And her husband Rory."

"A _married_ couple?" Martha's eyes widened, before looking at the Doctor with a sly smirk, "Never thought I'd see you go that domestic."

Both Evy and Amy looked at each other before laughing, traveling with the Doctor was so far from domestic.

"It's great to meet you," Martha smiled at the humans, before stepping forward to hug Amy and then Rory, "I'm Martha Smith nee Jones…" she paused, thinking about how to explain who she was, "I suppose I was the companion before the last one."

Amy nodded, pleased to meet other people who had traveled with the Doctor and Evy.

"So…" Martha looked back at Evy slyly, "Why are you _really_ here?"

"What do you mean?" Evy asked innocently.

" _You_ tend to call… _he_ …" she nodded at the Doctor, "Doesn't tend to do anything, and now you're _both_ here…without the world being in danger…what's going on?"

The Doctor laughed, "You know us so well."

Martha beamed at the praise, she was starting to like this new Doctor a bit more than her Doctor.

"And you're right," Evy added, "There _is_ something else, something we wanted to tell you…"

"And something each of us wanted to ask you," the Doctor cut in, now more serious.

"What?" Martha looked at them, concerned.

Evy bit her lip, before grinning, "We're having a baby!"

"Oh my God!" Martha shouted, before jumping up and launching herself at Evy, pulling her into a tight hug as she laughed with joy. She'd seen how the Doctor was with children, she'd heard the pain in his voice when he thought about his lost people, this was his second chance at a family. She was _thrilled_ that they wanted to share the news with her.

"Yes, yes," the Doctor smiled as Martha pulled him into another celebratory hug as well, "We're very excited…nervous…happy too!" Martha laughed, this Doctor didn't quite seem to have his head on right, but that was ok, it suited him, "And, we wanted to ask something of you Martha…"

"Anything," Martha said quickly.

"I wanted to know if you'd like to be Aunt Martha again," Evy smiled.

"Of course!" Martha squeezed Evy's hand.

"Again?" Amy asked.

"Long story," the Doctor said, growing a bit melancholy as he recalled Jenny, his dream coming to the forefront of his thoughts again. Evy sensed this and stepped away from Martha to stand beside him, wrapping her arm around his waist. He smiled, putting an arm around her shoulder and laying a kiss on top of her head.

Martha couldn't help but smile softly at the action, this was something she knew Evy only dreamed of happening when they'd travelled together.

"And _I_ wanted to know if you'd consider being our doctor," the Doctor finished, "There isn't another doctor on the planet I trust more than you."

"The Doctor needs a doctor," Evy murmured, recalling her first words to Martha and the Doctor.

"Yes!" Martha nearly shouted again, honored, "I mean, I'll need to take some time at the local hospital, refresh everything I learned about that, but I'll definitely be ready. Are you going to stay relative to my timeline? Will I see you in nine months or is the Doctor going to pilot and end up back here in a week with you ready to pop?" she joked.

"Time Lords can actually gestate about 18 months…" Evy began, "But as for the Doctor piloting...I have no idea when we'll show up."

Martha and Amy's eyes widened, more at the length of the pregnancy than anything, that was twice as long as an average pregnancy.

Martha shook her head, "I feel for you, I thought just the nine were bad…"

"What?" the Doctor asked.

But before Martha could answer, the back door opened. They looked over to see an older Mickey walk into the house, a small boy of about three hanging on his back with his little arms around Mickey's neck, another boy barely about two sitting on his foot with his arms and legs wrapped around his leg, "Martha, I seriously think we need to sign Ricky up for a team or something," Mickey was saying as he placed the football in his arms down so he could swing the son hanging from his neck around to tickle him, "Boy's got some mad skills."

Martha rolled her eyes, "I told you the recreational teams wait till you're six!"

The boy, Ricky, laughed in his father's arms while the younger boy got up and ran to Martha's side, hugging her legs, "Mummy who's this?"

Mickey looked up and over, confused, as he walked over with Ricky, "Hello…"

"Mickey Smith!" the Doctor shouted, nearly leaping at the man, hugging him, giving him two Gallic air kisses as Martha laughed at the sight, Evy and Amy just shook their heads, bemused.

"Um…hi?" Mickey said, leaning back from the strange man.

"How are you? Less of an idiot I hope."

"For the hundredth time Doctor I'm not an idiot!" he glared, before his eyes widened in realization, "Doctor?"

"Hello Mickey," Evy greeted, drawing the man's attention.

"Evy?" he asked as she nodded. He laughed, a smile blooming on his face as he realized who their guests were, "How have you both been? Who are your friends?"

"Excellent," the Doctor replied, "Amy and Rory Pond…"

"Williams…" Rory mumbled again, lighthearted.

"Our latest companions," Evy added.

"And who are these two dapper young fellows?" the Doctor asked as Evy knelt down to look at the youngest child who was half hiding behind Martha's legs, looking out shyly at the pretty blonde lady.

"This is John," Martha introduced, putting a hand on John's shoulder, tugging him out from behind her.

"And this handful is Richard," Mickey carried Ricky over.

Evy blinked, "John Smith?" she raised an eyebrow at Martha who blushed.

"Johnny," she corrected lightly.

"Ricky?" the Doctor asked, looking at Mickey, thinking on the 'Mickey' from the parallel world, "A fine name for a fine man," he nodded in approval.

Mickey grinned broadly at that.

"Dad," Ricky tugged on his father's shirt, "Who're they?"

Mickey set Ricky down and brought him over to his brother, kneeling beside them, "Boys…meet the Doctor…"

"And Evy," Martha added, happy that her children could finally meet the subject of a large part of their bedtime stories.

Ricky and Johnny's eyes widened as they looked up at the Doctor and Evy, "Really?" Ricky looked at them, confused, before turning to his mother, "They don't look like you said."

Martha laughed, "Remember they can change their faces?"

Ricky nodded, his eyes lighting up as he realized what had happened. He quickly turned to the Doctor and stepped forward, "Did you really fight the Slitheen from Raxacoricofallapatorius? That's my favorite story."

The Doctor's eyes widened at hearing the child flawlessly pronounce the planet, "Oh yeah," he nodded, kneeling down as well, "Can you even spell that?"

"Doctor," Evy admonished lightly, before ginning at the boys, "And what's your favorite story Johnny?"

Johnny bowed his head, speaking quietly, "When you and mummy fought the star Aunt Evy."

Evy's eyes filled with tears at the title the child had bestowed upon her, she looked up to see Martha smiling down at her. Apparently she and the Doctor were more than _just_ fairytales, they were _family_ , "Well Johnny do we have a surprise for you and Ricky."

"What?" Johnny asked, his eyes lighting up, now excited "What?"

"How would you feel about more stories of what we've been up to recently?"

Both boys quickly nodded their heads, "Well no time to waste then," the Doctor grinned, scooping up Ricky and carrying him to the sofa of the sitting room, Evy and Johnny following, where he began story time for the children.

~8~

Martha and Mickey stood in the kitchen with Amy and Rory, getting to know each other over a cup of tea, Amy was very curious to hear about all the adventures the Doctor and Evy had had before they showed up in her backyard, and with who, and how it ended, among other things. They looked on at Evy and the Doctor regaling the children with tales of their adventures whenever the conversation lagged, which wasn't often. Martha couldn't stop smiling as she watched the Doctor sit with Evy on his lap, his arms around her, both of them sharing little smiles and laughs and touches.

"What's got you all smiles?" Mickey asked, putting his arm around her shoulders, standing next to her as she held her cup of tea and looked on.

"It's just so nice to see them like that," Martha commented.

"Why?" Amy asked, frowning, as she too looked on. It was a common sight, the two Time Lords being cozy and cute.

Martha turned around to lean on the counter and face Amy, "I knew them when they weren't Linked."

"They weren't always Linked?" Rory asked. Evy had told him all about the Link she and the Doctor shared when he came to travel with them.

"God no," Martha laughed, "If they were like this…" she nodded back at them, "When I travelled with them, I might have kept the Doctor to his one trip only offer," she glanced back to see Evy resting her head against the Doctor's shoulder. She was joking of course, she wouldn't have given up her adventures for anything.

"Were they very different when you travelled with them?" Amy asked, always curious to know more about the mysterious Doctor and Evy.

"They're always different," Martha sighed, thinking about what changed them, their deaths and regenerations, "I knew two versions of Evy," she continued, "The two before this one, and one version of the Doctor, his previous one."

Mickey nodded, "I didn't really get to know Evy, but I travelled with her Doctor," he nodded at Martha, "But I met the one before that as well."

Rory shook his head, trying to wrap his mind around the fact that the two changed that much. He knew about regeneration from Evy, but hearing about how they had literally been different people was still off-putting.

"What were they like?" Amy tried again, "These different versions."

Mickey laughed, "Well, _I_ think the first Doctor was a jerk. Literally, called us all apes, stupid apes, really thought humans wasted their potential," he frowned in thought, "He was real broody, but Rose told me he'd just come from the war and…"

"Right from the war?"

Mickey nodded solemnly, mistaking her words to mean that she didn't know about the war, "There was a war on his planet between Time Lords and Daleks," Amy looked down, recalling her Doctor's reaction to the Daleks with Churchill, "They were going to destroy everything, but he stopped them."

"He sealed the planet, the war, into a time-locked part of space," Martha added, "Nothing goes in, nothing comes out. I mean a few Daleks were too far away to be locked in, they still exist but the majority were gone. But so were his people."

Amy shook her head, remembering how she'd felt when they'd told her about the war, she'd wanted to strangle the Doctor, how could he just say that 'bad stuff' happened and leave it like that? But then she realized, it was so much worse than that, so much worse that they didn't want to relive it, or think about it. That talking about it just caused the hurt to feel that much fresher.

"He came to Earth and met my ex-girlfriend Rose," Mickey picked up, "She travelled with him a bit, I like to think she healed him. She almost died saving him from a huge new Dalek army, but he saved her…died instead."

"He died?" Amy looked, startled. She knew about regeneration, Liz 10 had told her, but still, to hear that they actually physically died...it was a scary thought.

"Uh, regenerated. That was the Doctor I travelled with. He was much more easy going, always rambling about science, running everywhere, saw the best in humanity. It was really weird to go from being the stupid ape to indomitable human."

Martha nodded, "That was the Doctor I travelled with as well. But he travelled a bit with Rose first…they…they were close," she hesitated, glancing back at Evy. She knew the girl was thankful to Rose for helping the Doctor, but she also knew it still hurt for Evy to hear about Rose.

Mickey sighed, "She loved him," he put it out there, "There was this break in the wall to a parallel world and these Cybermen were coming through as well as Daleks…Rose and the Doctor managed to seal the break…but Rose got trapped on the other side."

"I met the Doctor after that," Martha smiled in memory, "He checked himself into my hospital which ended up on the moon…"

"That was him?" Rory's eyes widened, "One of my old mates was there."

"Oh? Who?"

"Oliver Morgenstern," Rory shook his head, unable to believe it.

Martha smiled, "That was us. Oh we went so many places, New York around the 1930s, saw scorpion men, fought killer stars, 1914, the 1960s with the Weeping Angels, end of the Universe…" she shook her head in thought, "He was sad though, at first. He'd lost his people, then he'd lost Rose…it was hard on him. He kept me at arm's length."

"But you knew Evy," Amy frowned in thought, "Didn't she travel with you too?"

Martha nodded, "She did, but the Doctor thought she was human, had no idea she was a Time Lady let alone his Link. She wore this necklace, a Perception Filter. Sort of made the Doctor not notice little things about her. Made him keep her at arm's length too."

"Why would she do that?" Amy asked in thought. They had mentioned the Perception Filter to her before, but she still didn't know exactly why Evy had done it. She recalled her own behavior with the Doctor when she'd first travelled with him and Evy…she'd wanted him badly and had been willing to do pretty much anything to get him. Why wouldn't Evy?

"He'd lost Rose. He was still grieving. Evy didn't want to create a Link before he was ready to let go."

"When _did_ you meet Evy?" Rory tilted his head, eyeing the Time Lady as she said something that made the children laugh and the Doctor look a bit embarrassed.

"We'd just come from the future, the 51st century, New New York, because the Doctor got a mental call to head to this unit, Torchwood, well, he didn't know it was Torchwood at the time," Martha laughed, "Captain Jack…he's the head of the institute…he'd found Evy locked away in this um, mental hospital, and brought her back, found out she was a Time Lady, got in touch with the Doctor and off we went."

"What were they like, not Linked?" Amy asked. Rory had to smile, the way Amy had asked it, she wasn't curious to how she might have had a shot back then, but actually sounded concerned for her two friends.

"It was like they were just friends. Evy certainly gave him a run for his money, keeping up with his techno-babble, helping save us from some monsters, helping him pilot the TARDIS. I think, deep down, he liked her, but he was too hurt from Rose to really _notice_. He was impressed with her sure, but the Filter was also making it so he didn't _really_ notice her."

"Must have been hard," Rory commented softly, recalling quite a few times in the past when he'd felt invisible to Amy, and not just where the Doctor was concerned. As though sensing his thoughts Amy grabbed his hand and squeezed it, smiling at him.

"She'd never say anything," Martha sighed, "But I think it was. There…there were times where she'd get this look like she just wanted him to realize he wasn't alone, like she wanted to comfort him but couldn't…even worse, she couldn't be comforted either."

"What do you mean?" Amy asked quietly.

"She couldn't let him know she was a Time Lady. When he talked about the war, she couldn't react. When we faced Daleks she couldn't show how terrified she _really_ was. She had to hide everything, she couldn't even mourn her people openly."

"But they _did_ Link. Right? They're Linked. When did that happen?"

"I couldn't tell you," Martha smiled softly, "That was after my time. Donna might know though."

"Donna?" Rory asked.

"Donna Noble. She…"

Suddenly there was a crash from the sitting room. Martha whirled around only to see Ricky holding the Doctor's new sonic, aimed at a vase of hers that was now lying in two pieces on the ground.

Ricky looked up to see his mother giving him a look that he knew meant trouble and quickly shoved the sonic back in the Doctor's hands, trying to look as innocent as possible.

"Don't worry about it Martha," Evy called, kneeling down beside the vase with Johnny, "We've got it covered," she pressed her own sonic into the boys hands, setting it, and allowing him to press the button while she held the two pieces together…they watched as the split in the vase repaired itself.

"Awesome!" Ricky shouted, rushing over to scoop up the vase and look over at the Doctor's sonic again, "Can I have one?"

"Absolutely not," Martha began, plucking the vase out of her son's hands.

The Doctor, who had been about to say yes, let his face fall into a pout.

Evy just rolled her eyes, "Boys and their toys."

Martha smiled a bit.

"Finished telling our companions about the old days?" the Doctor asked, "How you saved the world, battled pig men…"

"Had to watch this dunce when he made himself human," Evy cut in.

The Doctor stuck his tongue out at her.

"You saved the world?" Rory asked, looking at Martha who looked away sheepish, trying to wave off the question.

"Martha and the Year-That-Never-Was," Evy grinned, standing up to put an arm around her friend's shoulder, "My psychotic brother took over the world and Martha here had to travel around it on her own, rallying the people, to help the Doctor…who was trapped in a bird cage."

Amy and Rory looked at her, cross between being confused and thinking she was mad.

Martha had to laugh, "Well when you put it _that_ way…" she grinned. It did sound rather crazy.

"That's my girl," Mickey laughed, stepping forward to scoop Martha into his arms, "Wonder woman."

Martha blushed fiercely.

"What do you think boys?" the Doctor quietly asked the children, "Mum's a hero."

"And dad's not too bad either," Evy called as the boys ran to their mother, hugging her along with their father.

Evy felt an arm drape over her shoulder and looked up to see the Doctor watching the scene, pride in his eyes, just as it was in hers.

~8~

"Alright!" a voice shouted through the constant knocking sound, "Alright! Hold your horses!" moments later the white door was thrown back to reveal a ginger woman standing there. She looked at the group of four, standing on the doorstep of her modest one-level house. A split second later her eyes widened, "Evy!" she shouted, launching herself at the woman before noticing the man beside her, "Doctor!"

"Donna!" Evy laughed, hugging the woman as she pulled the Doctor into the hug as well.

"Donna Temple-Noble," the Doctor grinned, stepping back as the ginger waved them all in.

"And this must be Rory," Donna hugged them as well, "And Amy! I see it didn't take you long to find another ginger."

"How did you know?" Amy laughed, loving the woman's excitement.

"I…don't know," she replied after a moment.

"My fault," Evy grinned sheepishly, "Got a bit too excited, things slipped through…"

Donna just waved her off, stepping further into her house, leading them to a sitting room, "I knew it, I just _knew_ you'd be stopping by today. Just had a feeling and well, here you are!"

"It's great to see you Donna," Evy smiled as Donna patted the seat next to her on the sofa. Evy sat down beside her, the Doctor on the arm rest, while Amy and Rory took the love seat across from them.

"So…" Donna grinned slyly, "What is it?"

"What is what?" the Doctor frowned.

"What's the news dumbo," she rolled her eyes at them, "I know you're here to tell me something, and Evy's practically buzzing about it, so what is it?"

"It's not really a telling more so an asking," Evy began.

"Ask away," Donna said quickly, dying of anticipation.

"How would you feel about being Auntie Donna again?"

Donna's mouth dropped open, "No! You're not pregnant! Are you? You can't be! Can you?"

"Same old Donna," the Doctor laughed.

"Oi watch it spaceman!" Donna mock glared at him, earning a bigger laugh, before turning to Evy, "You're going to have a baby?"

Evy nodded, tears in her eyes at seeing Donna so happy for them. Donna pulled her into another hug, this time much tighter than the last, "Uh, Donna…" Evy nearly gasped, "Can't breathe…"

"Sorry!" Donna pulled away, before leaning down to talk to Evy's stomach, "Sorry love!"

Evy shook her head at Donna's antics.

"So how is everything Donna?" the Doctor asked, smiling at the two women, "How's everyone? Shaun, and Sylvia, and Wilf?"

Donna rolled her eyes, "Well if you'd pick up a phone every once in a while like Evy you'd know wouldn't you?"

The Doctor pouted.

Evy laughed, "I know, he's so horrible at that, and he _lives_ in a _phone box_!"

"River even had to graffiti the cliff wall of the oldest planet in the Universe to get his attention 'cos he wouldn't answer the phone," Amy added.

"River Song?" Donna asked.

"You know her too?"

Donna nodded, "Met her in a library in the 51st century, ended up being chased by these cannibalistic shadows."

Amy nodded, sounded like something the Doctor would get them into, "We ended up in 102AD 'cos of that."

Donna laughed, "Sounds like him. This one time he wants to take me to Rome, right, we ended up in Pompeii…on Volcano day!"

Amy started laughing at that.

"Ha ha," the Doctor rolled his eyes at them, "Glad I could provide so much amusement."

"Well it's just," Amy took a breath from laughing so hard, "Can't you _ever_ manage to go somewhere you want the _first_ time and _without_ danger lurking around the bend."

"Of course," he said indignantly, "I just choose not to."

'No,' Evy mouthed, which sent Donna and Amy into another round of laugher, even Rory chuckled a bit.

"Et tu?" the Doctor turned to his Link, pouting.

"Oh, pouty face!" Evy smiled, getting up and moving herself onto his lap, "Pouty face has had its say, what will make it go away?" she wondered before giving him a quick peck on the lips. He grinned widely, "There it is."

Donna smiled at them, joy in her eyes. She'd only been able to _glimpse_ this before she'd had to remain behind.

"But really," the Doctor turned to Donna, now a bit more serious, "How are things?"

"Good," Donna smiled, "Really good actually. I've got a steady job…teaching temp skills, a husband, a beautiful house, a…"

"Kind of small isn't it?" the Doctor cut in, looking around, now distracted by the house, "Did I give you the wrong numbers for the rollover?"

"No, no!" Donna shook her head, "I was the only winner, got the lot of it. Shaun and I, we just…didn't want to spoil her."

"Her?"

Just then Shaun walked into the room from the kitchen a baby held in his arms, patting her back, clearly having just fed her, for the pink clothes could only mean it was a girl.

"Oh Donna," Evy breathed as Shaun stopped short, seeing them. They hadn't gotten to actually see Donna's daughter during their last regeneration. They'd popped in to say goodbye and discovered Donna was in the hospital. They'd rushed there, fearing the worst, only to see her and Shaun in a room holding a little bundle in a pink blanket, Donna clearly having just given birth and decided to leave for a less private moment, her wedding.

"Shaun," Donna nodded for him to come closer, "The Doctor and Evy…the new them."

Shaun looked at them a moment before smiling, "Oh hello."

"Who's this little girl?" the Doctor asked, getting up to go stand by Shaun and look at the baby.

"Jennifer," Donna answered. The Doctor and Evy looked over at her, startled, "Jen. In honor of your Jenny."

Evy felt tears collect in her eyes as she hugged her friend, the Doctor's own eyes misting though the smile remained on his face.

"Do you want to hold her?" Shaun asked the Doctor, who nodded quickly. Evy stepped over, more making sure the Doctor would be ok holding the child as well as for emotional support. She knew the last time he'd actually held a baby had been when Eta died.

~8~

Donna, Amy, and Rory stood off to the side, watching as the Doctor cradled little Jen in his arms, Shaun and Evy standing close, Evy cooing at the child.

"Who was Jenny?" Amy asked Donna, recalling her words from before, as well as Martha's. Perhaps Jenny had been a child of theirs, it would explain why they kept asking Martha and Donna to be aunts, again.

Donna sighed and turned to face them, "I was travelling with the Doctor, mine and Martha's, and a different Evy, one who was mostly just mine. We had come back to Earth after visiting a planet and helping to free the Ood, these aliens…we got a call from Martha that she needed help with something, that ATMOS system. The Doctor and Evy had a horrible fight and the TARDIS…"

"They fought?" Rory asked, actually shocked. From what he'd seen of Evy and the Doctor, they hardly ever seemed cross with one another.

Donna nodded, "They weren't Linked then," she said, seeming to sense Rory's thoughts, "The Doctor had discovered Evy was a Time Lady, but according to her, he wasn't ready to Link, so she wore this necklace a…"

"Perception Filter," Amy cut in.

"Yeah. I saw how close the two of them grew over our travels. The Doctor seemed less hurt about losing Rose and more, hopeful? Yes, hopeful, about a future with Evy during the time. But in the beginning it was hard for him to wrap his head around the fact that Evy wasn't _just_ a Time Lady but his _Link_ as well. He…he was going to blow up a Sontaran, another alien, ship with him in it…he knocked Evy out so she couldn't stop him…" she shook her head, "I've _never_ seen Evy that angry as when she woke up and realized how close she'd come to losing him."

"Must have been bad," Amy replied, recalling the time with the Angels, how the Doctor had reacted.

"It was," Donna agreed, "But then the TARDIS went wonky and sent the four of us on a trip, ended up being where Jenny was born."

"So Jenny was their daughter?"

"It's complicated," Donna hesitated, glancing back to make sure the Doctor and Evy weren't listening to her share this painful tale, "There was this machine that would take a bit of DNA and make a person out of it, fully grown. These soldiers forced the Doctor through it and he had a bit of Evy's DNA on his hand 'cos he'd been holding hers, and Jenny was created."

"What happened to her?" Rory wondered, never having heard Evy or the Doctor mention her.

"She died," Donna replied simply, "Stepped in front of a bullet for the Doctor and died," she shook her head sadly, "They were _crushed_. But, they stuck together…I really think it made them closer."

"And _then_ they Linked?" Amy tried, attempting to figure out how that had happened.

"Not quite yet," Donna smiled at the girl, "We ended up meeting Agatha Christie, and then faced those cannibalistic shadows, went to this beautiful leisure palace on this planet called Midnight, and then I had this parallel world created around me…I met Rose there."

"Rose? The one who was trapped in that parallel Universe?"

Donna nodded, "She gave me a warning for them," she nodded back at the Doctor and Evy, "We raced back to Earth and it disappeared from under us."

"I remember that," Rory nodded, "The planets in the sky right?"

"Yeah," Donna smiled, "We got lost a bit, but managed to find the Earth…we stepped out of the TARDIS and saw Rose. The Doctor went to greet her but Evy saw a Dalek appear and try to fire at the Doctor, she pushed him out of the way," Amy gasped, "She started to regenerate, but managed to push the energy into the Doctor's old hand…"

"His... _hand_?" Rory frowned.

"Apparently it got cut off and he grew another one," Donna grimaced, "I know, like worms right?" Amy and Rory laughed, "But she was fine, all healed…but the necklace she wore was destroyed, the Doctor Linked to her."

"Right after he found Rose again?" Amy breathed, feeling heartbroken for the Doctor and Evy as well.

"Secret," Donna leaned in, "The Doctor wanted to take the necklace off after we visited Midnight."

"Why?" Rory asked, "Something happen there?"

Donna nodded, "Evy almost died protecting the Doctor from this parasitic alien…he realized how much he didn't want to lose her. That he loved her."

Amy smiled softly, relating to how she'd realized she truly loved Rory…when she'd nearly lost him.

"What happened with the Earth?" Rory asked at the same time as Amy asked, "Was Rose ok?"

"Well, I sort of touched the hand and it created a half human, half Time Lord clone of the Doctor," Donna smiled at the memory, "He's living with Rose in the parallel world. And I got a bit of Time Lord as well, it's how I knew who you were, Evy can sort of...tell me. It's like we're connected, things just slip through from her to me. But it can be overwhelming having a bit of them in your head," she sighed, "I can't travel with them anymore or it could kill me."

"I'm so sorry," Amy frowned, not able to imagine what it must be like to not be able to travel in the TARDIS again.

Donna shrugged, "I'm actually happier here. I've got a life, a family, a job, a daughter…one who has lived up to her namesake and given me plenty of adventures already."

"I hope she continues to do so," Evy said, they turned to see her holding Jenny, who was falling asleep.

"And I don't think it's the namesake, I think it's the mum," the Doctor added, grinning.

"Oh definitely," Evy agreed, "The Amazing Super Temp, defeater of Daleks, the most important woman in the Universe."

Donna could only smile.

~8~

"Where are we now?" Amy asked as they stepped out of the TARDIS and into what appeared to be an attic of sorts. She and Rory looked around, walking over to a large computer sticking out of the wall with a light blinking on it.

"Wait for it," was all Evy said.

Before Amy or Rory could even turn around to ask her what she meant, the door to the attic burst open and three teenagers ran through.

"Doctor!" a black youth exclaimed as he and another boy ran over to the Doctor, high-fiving him.

"Evy!" a brunette girl grinned as she hugged Evy round the middle.

"I thought it was you," a voice said from the door. They looked over to see an older woman with shoulder length brown hair standing in the doorway, "Mr. Smith alerted us to a spike in Artron Energy in the attic, and I knew it was you," she smiled softly at them and walked over, "Doctor," she said gently hugging him and Evy, "Evy!"

"Hello Sarah Jane," the Doctor smiled at his old companion.

"Everyone, this is Amy Pond," Evy stepped away and over to Amy and Rory, putting an arm over each of their shoulders as she stood between them, "And her husband Rory, our newest companions."

"It's so nice to meet you," Sarah Jane grinned, stepping up to hug them as well, "I'm Sarah Jane Smith…I travelled with the Doctor in the early days."

"How early?" Amy asked, trying to get a feel for it.

"Very," Sarah Jane laughed, "His third and fourth incarnation."

"And this is your eleventh now right?" Rory asked the Doctor who could only nod.

"Wow," Amy breathed, her eyes wide as she stared at Sarah Jane in awe.

The Doctor couldn't help but smile as he saw Amy's reaction. He had to admit, while he did love all his companions, Sarah Jane just held a special spot in his hearts. He was so happy to see Amy accepting Sarah Jane. He had to admit, he'd been uncomfortable with the hostility that Rose had shown his former companion when they'd met again after so long. But perhaps it had something to do with the fact Amy was aware he'd had previous companions.

"And this is my son Luke," Sarah Jane introduced, stepping back to the children, "His friends Rani and Clyde."

"Do you really get to travel around in the TARDIS?" Clyde asked them, rushing over with the others.

"Have you been to any alien planets?" Rani asked as well.

"How about different times?" Luke joined in.

Amy and Rory smiled as they were bombarded with question upon question about their travels until Rani spun around, "When can we take a trip with you?" Rani asked, desperately hoping it would be now.

"How old are you?" the Doctor asked them.

"Haven't even started university," Evy smirked, "Most of them," she nodded at Luke, having spoken to Sarah Jane about this when they'd helped her and Jo out. She'd been wondering where Luke had got to, and, given the time that had passed since then, it seemed he was home visiting.

"Oh well," the Doctor nodded, "How about a graduation present after then?"

The kids' eyes lit up and they quickly ran over to the duo, hugging them tightly as Sarah Jane just shook her head at them, "So what gives me the pleasure of seeing you again?" Sarah Jane smiled, knowing every time they showed up something big would follow.

"You're an _amazing_ mother Sarah Jane," the Doctor said out of nowhere, "Wouldn't you say Luke?"

Luke nodded, "The best."

Sarah Jane looked cross between beaming tearfully at her son's praise and staring at the Doctor in confusion.

"How would you like to try your hand at Godmother?" Evy asked, stepping forward and placing the woman's hand on her stomach.

Sarah Jane's eyes widened with realization as Rani gasped, "Oh my goodness," Sarah Jane breathed, "I would be honored!"

"Good," Evy smiled as Sarah Jane hugged her again.

~8~

Evy and the Doctor stood in the TARDIS showing a few of the controls to the kids, well…the Doctor was showing random controls to the kids while Evy stood by, switching off the ones that would eventually cause some sort of explosion or end up sending the TARDIS into the Vortex.

Sarah Jane stood, leaning against Mr. Smith, watching them through the doors while Amy and Rory stood beside her, "He'd never admit it," Sarah Jane said after a few more moments of silence, "But he always wanted children in the TARDIS."

Amy smiled softly, "Yeah, I know," she often found herself wondering what an adventure with the Doctor would have been like if she was still the little girl whose wall he'd fixed.

"So…what do you do Sarah Jane?" Rory asked, trying to slyly glance back at the massive computer behind him. He couldn't help it, it was very interesting.

Sarah Jane laughed and spun around to press a few buttons on the computer, bringing it to life, "Luke, Clyde, Rani, and I help protect the Earth."

"From your attic?" Amy frowned.

Sarah Jane nodded, "This computer monitors for alien activity and alerts us to it. Helps us plan and investigate it. See, I was an investigative journalist originally, then I met the Doctor, oh, the places we went," she sighed in remembrance, before shaking her head, "After seeing all that, how could I just go back to the life I had? So I found a happy medium."

"Investigating aliens?"

"Exactly. It's actually how I reunited with the Doctor. We were both investigating the same aliens, bumped into each other…"

"Which Doctor was it?" Amy asked.

"His last one, before this one, his 10th," Sarah Jane thought a moment, "Yes, about half a dozen regenerations after my last Doctor."

"You travelled with the…third and fourth Doctor?" Amy asked, recalling that facts.

Sarah Jane nodded, "That was before the war though, when the Time Lords still had a big say in his life," she sighed, "They were why he had to leave me back on Earth, they called him back home…didn't see him again till I investigated those aliens."

"He just disappeared?" Amy frowned, not liking the thought of the Doctor just dumping her somewhere when he grew tired of her. She doubted Evy would _ever_ let him, from what she'd gleamed from Donna and Martha, Evy made a huge effort to keep in touch and up-to-date. And she didn't doubt Evy would drag him to visit every once in a while.

"Oh he never just disappears," Sarah Jane corrected, having gotten the closure she needed about what she saw as his abandonment of her, "He's always right here," she patted her heart, "As cliché as that might sound," Amy smiled at this, "And he gave me this when I found him again," she held up a lipstick, flicking it on.

"It's sonic!" Amy exclaimed.

"Yes," Sarah Jane smiled, "It's gotten me out of quite a few sticky situations."

"Did you ever meet the Doctor after that?" Rory asked, also a bit miffed at the thought that the Doctor could possibly abandon Amy.

"Oh yes. I was there when the Earth was stolen, the Doctor and Evy crashed my wedding of sorts, I suppose you could say, I saw him once more, the last him, just before he regenerated, he visited all his old companions. And a while ago...I think you two were on a planet on a honeymoon?" they nodded, "He came to save me and another former companion, Jo Jones, from falling into an alien trap."

"So…he still watches out for you?" Amy asked after a moment, "He still cares?"

Sarah Jane quickly pulled the girl into a hug, "He can't not care. Not ever. He loves us all. And yes, in his own way, he watches out for us. Makes sure we're happy."

Amy smiled, hugging back before pulling away.

"Everything ok?" Evy asked. They looked up to see her leaning out of the TARDIS as the kids walked out past her.

"Perfect," Amy smiled.

"Well we'd best be off then," the Doctor grinned, laying an arm over Evy's shoulder, "Lot's to do."

Sarah Jane nodded, "Thank you for stopping by."

"Of course!" Evy grinned, bounding down the steps, as Amy and Rory walked up them, to hug Sarah Jane, "Always," she added, pulling away to take the woman's hand. She squeezed her hand and turned to run up to the TARDIS, the door closing behind her moments before it dematerialized.

"What's that?" Rani asked, seeing a white paper clasped in Sarah Jane's hand.

Sarah Jane unfolded it, her eyes widening as she read the contents.

"Mum?" Luke asked.

She looked up, tears in her eyes, "It's a list…of names."

"For who?" Clyde asked.

Sarah Jane smiled, thinking back to a conversation she and Rani and Clyde had had after Jo left, how she'd seached on the internet for people who might be previous companions of the Doctor, only finding a few, "All the Doctor's companions."

~8~

The last stop they had to make was to a small, though very technologically advanced, area that they could see through a glass door. Amy and Rory looked confused till Evy stepped forward and punched in a small code on a door, stepping past it and into the main room. She took the Doctor's hand and pulled him in, ignoring his groan as she did so. Now Amy and Rory were very confused as to why the Doctor was so reluctant to visit this place. They stepped in after her, their eyes widening at the sheer amount of technology and weapons packed in it.

"Welcome to Torchwood," the Doctor sighed.

Evy just grinned and stepped forward, "Jack! Gwen!"

Moments later a man appeared up a set of stairs and looked down at them, stunned, "Evy?" it was the only explanation as to why there was a mysterious blonde stranger standing in the hub with a man who looked a bit like an idiot, "Doctor?"

"Jack!" Evy smiled.

Jack quickly made his way down the steps and over to her, pulling her into a hug, and spinning her around, "Look at you!" he commented, pulling back to take in her appearance, "With a button nose too..." he tapped her nose with a laugh.

Evy rolled her eyes and smirked, "Yeah well take a picture. This," she gestured at herself, "Won't last."

Jack's eyes widened in concern, his mind jumping to the worst conclusions, "Are you ok?"

"I think she meant that she won't be this _size_ next time we see you," the Doctor said, stepping forward and putting a possessive arm around his Link, his hand coming to rest purposefully and protectively on her stomach.

Jack's eyes followed the movement before widening, "Not you too…"

"What?" the Doctor frowned.

"Gwen!" Jack turned to shout up the stairs, "It's Evy! And she's preggers too!"

"Evy?" a voice called, a few moments later a pregnant Gwen stepped out onto the top step, her bump showing she was only a few months along.

"Gwen!" Evy laughed as Gwen slowly made her way down the stairs. As soon as she was at the bottom, Evy stepped forward and hugged her, "Look at you," she said, echoing Jack's words.

"Year, I know," Gwen rolled her eyes, "I'll be as big as a house soon."

"No," Evy shook her head, "You're glowing."

Gwen smiled lightly at the woman, pleased that someone was complimenting her instead of commenting about her ever expanding size like a certain captain loved to do…

"And who is this lovely lady," Jack grinned at Amy.

" _She_ is married," Evy rolled her eyes at him before stepping back over to the Doctor.

"Meet Mr. Pond," the Doctor laughed, clapping Rory on the back.

Rory just rolled his eyes, a small smile on his face, especially when Amy took his hand.

"You tease me," Jack deadpanned as he mock glared at Evy.

Evy laughed, "Deal with it."

"This is Amy," the Doctor cut in, introducing his companions, "And Rory."

"Nice to meet you," Gwen stepped forward, shaking their hands, "I'm Gwen, and this Casanova is Captain Jack."

"Oh no, no, no more mentions of Casanova," the Doctor shook his head, "Give him a new name."

"Don Juan?" Evy supplied jokingly.

The Doctor's jaw dropped ,"No, let's just forgo the nicknames. Captain Jack is a fine name."

Evy couldn't help but laugh, Casanova had really rattled the Doctor, even the slight mention of the man sent the Doctor into a mood.

"So what brings you here?" Jack smiled at them.

"Well, we've been visiting the old gang," Evy said.

"Donna, Martha, Sarah Jane," the Doctor listed.

"Well, technically now it's Auntie Donna and Aunt Martha again, and Godmother Sarah Jane," Evy corrected.

"And we thought we'd stop in and say hello to the original Torchwood team."

"And we wanted to ask if you might want to be Godfather, Jack?"

As soon as her words processed Jack's mouth just dropped open, "You want _me_ to be the Godfather?" Jack breathed, truly touched. It always seemed like the Doctor was a bit hesitant around him ever since the whole Satellite 5 thing.

"You and Ianto were the closest things I had to brothers save for the Master," Evy said, turning to give Jack a hug, "I couldn't not honor the both of you in some way," Jack hugged her back, "And I know you, if anything _ever_ happened to the Doctor or I, you would probably kidnap the poor kid to keep him or her safe eh?"

"Oh definitely."

"And I suppose," the Doctor began slowly, "A guardian who can never die would mean they'd never be alone or unprotected."

"Never," Jack swore.

The Doctor nodded a moment before holding out a hand to Jack, "Thanks Jack."

Jack smiled and shook the Doctor's hand, "No problem," and then for good measure he pulled the Doctor into a small hug. The Doctor awkwardly patted the man's back and stepped away.

~8~

Evy was sitting at one of the computers, showing Gwen exactly how she had managed to hack into the system when she had been there last time, how she'd set up the virus that activated during the planets in the sky event. The Doctor was standing behind her, watching as she worked her magic, even more impressed. Though the small bit of living virus she'd created to nest in the Torchwood computers did explain how she'd already had that slightly alive virus to send out and reset the clocks for Prisoner Zero. It just cemented his already mounting suspicion, his Link was just a wonder.

"So you were the one who rescued Evy?" Amy asked as she and Rory stood off by a small coffee machine, talking with Jack who had refinished telling them some of the adventures of Torchwood.

"Not exactly," Jack began, a tense smile on his face, "It was another member of our team, Ianto Jones, who really saved her from the Mason Institute," his smile turned sad as he thought back to his late lover, "He'd had these visions of Evy…"

"Visions?" Amy frowned.

"I'm sure she's told you that she can project her thoughts at people?" Jack ventured, they nodded, "Well, she was desperate while she was there, calling out to anyone who would listen…ended up projecting more than just her thoughts. Ianto was able to see her calling out. She gave him a few clues, as much as she could in her state, to lead him to the Institute. I went with him to get her, we brought her back here and helped clear out the drugs from her system, got her back on track."

"She was that bad?" Rory frowned, concerned for his friend.

"Oh yeah," Jack nodded, "Totally out of it. But she got better. Ianto was with her the whole time. Once she recovered she just fit in around here. I mean we had tons of alien tech that she helped us ID and fix up. She really became a part of the Torchwood family," he laughed in thought, "We always joked that Ianto adopted her as his little sister. And he treated her like it, just like she treated me and him like older brothers. One of our team members even made the Perception Filter she wore to fool the Doctor."

"So where's he?" Amy looked around as though she'd be able to find Ianto standing there.

Jack's small smile faded completely, "He died."

"I'm so sorry," Amy gasped, completely horrified that she'd brought up such a bad memory.

"It's alright," Jack tried to smile, "He died saving the Earth, had a hero's burial."

"And he'll still be honored even in death," Evy said. They looked over to see the small group by the computer looking over at them. Evy got up and walked over to Jack, taking his hand and putting it on her stomach, "You have no idea how many stories I'm going to tell it about its Uncle Ianto," Jack smiled, knowing that a small child was growing just under his hand, who was going to be raised on stories of Ianto's heroics, "The best dressed man in the world."

Jack laughed at that, "That he was."

~8~

Evy couldn't help but smile as she laid in their bed that night, the Doctor's arms wrapped around her. Her head was lying on his chest as they stared up at the ceiling of the TARDIS which had morphed to show the space they were floating in.

"What's got you all smiles?" the Doctor asked, grinning down at her as he ran his hands through her hair.

"Just thinking," she sighed happily.

"'Bout what?"

"Our child is going to have so much love and happiness in its life."

"How do you figure?" he asked, very interested and very hopeful that she was right, which she often was.

"Well just look at it now," she rubbed her stomach, "It's got such a big family already…"

"What do you mean?" he tilted his head as he looked at her.

"Everyone we visited," she laughed, "All those people, will never let our child be alone. They'll watch out for and protect it to the very end."

The Doctor couldn't help but smile, thinking about his past companions, "Well, when you think about it like that…" he gave her a quick peck, "Yeah, everything will be fine."

Evy just nodded and laid back down, her hand stroking her still-flat stomach, yes, everything would be just fine.

To be continued...in...The Beginning of a Family!

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked this original chapter :) I've always written in that Evy keeps in contact with the past companions and I felt like this would be one thing she would NOT want to say just over the phone, this warranted a trip! I also thought that bringing up the Auntie/Aunt again would be a cute way to tell Martha and Donna about the baby. And I really just wanted Amy and Rory to see exactly what the Doctor and Evy had been through to get to the point they are in now. It probably sounded repetitive with Donna and Martha telling Amy and Rory things they already knew about, but they haven't met Amy or Rory before so they aren't sure what they know or what the Time Lords have told them.
> 
> I know that the last time Gwen (from Torchwood) was pregnant, Jack left Torchwood and the next time he returns she's already given birth. I'm just going to go with the Doctor and Evy meeting him and Gwen takes place after the Miracle Day series, possibly where Gwen's pregnant with a second child, in the future, where Jack and her have restarted Torchwood or something (I don't really follow Torchwood). The Doctor's tends to get the timing off so I could see them shooting for a recent trip and ending up seeing a future Jack.
> 
> As for the baby...I wanted this to happen because, well, I just felt like the Doctor would love nothing more than to have his family back again. And now he has a chance to have one with Evy. And I love how he acts around babies, so sweet. This baby with Evy, it definitely won't make for an ordinary family, if all goes well for them that is. This is the DOCTOR's baby we're talking about. I laugh when I think of whatever sort of child would have the Doctor as a father, he's so like a child himself at times. Can you imagine a son or daughter (basically a mini-him) running around a TARDIS? Evy would have her work cut out for her. And a Time Lord baby, well...just imagine what would be said and heard with parents who speak Baby. There would be nothing domestic about it :)
> 
> Gotta say, the Doctor's nightmare will definitely be sticking around in the back of his mind, and quite possibly realized at least twice throughout Series 6. Big plans for that! The Doctor does something pretty drastic. Poor him though, I can imagine, after losing the first child and its mother, that this WOULD be a very big concern for him now with Evy and their baby. No one ever wants to think about the possibility of losing a child during birth or the mother, or both, or there being something wrong. But it does happen. And the fact that it happened to him...well, I can only imagine how terrified the Doctor will be since it DID happen to him and he KNOWS it could happen again.
> 
> Will it?
> 
> We'll have to wait an find out. Check back tomorrow for the start of The Beginning of a Family.
> 
> And just a thanks! To all of you who have reviewed/favorited/followed/read/anything this story. You guys are all awesome, amazing people, and I'm glad you liked this series. I love you all!


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